ailing leader yasser arafat ..., page-20

leukaemia ruled out as arafat flies http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,11222169%255E401,00.html

Leukaemia ruled out as Arafat flies
By staff writers and wires
October 29, 2004

THE personal physician to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has ruled out leukaemia as the cause of the illness that saw him collapse yesterday.

Dr Ashraf Kurdi told CNN this morning that Mr Arafat had a blood platelet deficiency that was affecting his health, and while it remains unclear exactly what the problem is, leukaemia, a deadly cancer of the blood, was not the cause.

However, there were reports from Palestinian officials in Ramallah on the West Bank suggesting Mr Arafat could be suffering from leukaemia.

The abnormally low blood platelet count highlighted by Dr Kurdi could be a symptom of the disease.

It could also indicate bleeding ulcers, colitis, liver disease, lupus or chicken pox.

The ailing 75-year-old is too weak to stand and unable to hold down food.

He spent most of yesterday sleeping, but has reluctantly agreed to leave his battered West Bank compound for the first time in more than two years and fly to Paris for urgent medical treatment.

"He has to be treated in France for a short time and then he can continue his treatment in Ramallah," Dr Kurdi said, stressing there were no worrying complexities for Mr Arafat.

Two Jordanian helicopters flew in to Ramallah to transfer Mr Arafat to Amman, from where he will leave for Paris today.

Palestinians across the Middle East anxiously, but quietly, monitored Mr Arafat's health yesterday, but there was no mass vigil around his compound or any other public displays of support.

Palestinian officials tried to play down Mr Arafat's health problems earlier, saying he performed Muslim prayers before dawn and ate a light breakfast of cornflakes and milk.

They released a brief video and two photos showing him sitting in a chair, wearing blue pyjamas and a dark stocking cap and smiling broadly with his doctors.

Dr Kurdi said there was no immediate threat to Arafat's life. "His condition is good, his spirits are high," Dr Kurdi said.

But the seriousness of his condition was underscored by the rushed arrival of Arafat's 41-year-old wife, Suha, who lives in Paris with their young daughter and has not seen her husband since 2001.

Mr Arafat has also suffered from diarrhoea and at times, Arafat appeared confused, not recognising some of his visitors, he added.

His doctors recommended he be moved to Paris, where he can receive better medical care. French President Jacques Chirac's office said France will send a plane to take him there.

Palestinian bulldozers entered Arafat's compound Thursday night and began clearing away rubble and cars crushed by Israeli raids there, presumably to make room for a makeshift helipad.

Despite Israel's promise to let Arafat return, his deteriorating condition and his departure from the West Bank are likely to dramatically change Palestinian politics.

Several potential successors were already reported to be jockeying for position, a development that could transform relations with Israel.

The Israeli Government has refused to deal with Arafat, saying he was fomenting terror and is not a partner for peace. NEWS.com.au with The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse

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Cheers,

Fig Jam

What ever he's got, I hope it's terminal and painful.