No link yet....
A French-language Israeli newssite is reporting Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestinian Authority, may have died of a heart attack. The report is based on the Guysen Israel News' sources and is ''unconfirmed.'' ''We do not have any more information on the state of Arafat,'' the latest report said. ''The news of his death is still not confirmed.'' A report earlier in the day from Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said Arafat's condition was improving. Conflicting reports in recent days had him sick with everything from the flu to heart failure. The 74-year-old leader looked pale and tired during the ceremony to swear in an emergency cabinet Tuesday, and some reports say he needed prompting from his aides.
| Waiting for confirmation. Fat Lady warming up, ululator being oiled... |
 | | I've pulled the Fat Lady until the inevitable official announcement comes or they bury him without saying anything. Until then, for entertainment... | Palestinian President Yasser Arafat was declared clinically dead on Thursday in a French hospital, Israeli television said citing French sources. But Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie denied the report, saying: "I have just spoken to the officials in Paris and they say the situation is still as it was. He is still in the intensive care unit." Israel's Channel Two television cited unnamed sources in Paris saying that Arafat underwent a brain scan and was found to be "no longer alive." Palestinian sources earlier told Reuters that the Palestinian president, who was admitted to hospital last week with a mysterious stomach illness, had slipped into a coma.
| Say hello to Himmler for us, Yasser! |
French Doctors Say Arafat's Alive
| Actually, they said he's not dead. There's a difference... |
French doctors announced Thursday that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who is in intensive care at a French military hospital, is still alive.
| That's what the AP guy thinks he heard. But actually... |
"The clinical situation of the first fews days following admission has become more complex," Christian Estripeau, head of communications for French military health services.
| "Our tentative diagnosis at this point is rigor mortis, complicated by the onset of decomposition..." |
"The state of health of the patient requires appropriate treatment that required his transfer on Wednesday afternoon of Nov. 3 to a unit adapted to his pathology," Estripeau said.
"Mr. Arafat is not dead," he said, concluding the brief statement.
| "The carcass still breathes, with the aid of the appropriate machinery. The blood still moves in the major blood vessels. Nutrition is being pumped in one end, and waste is being removed from the other. But whether there's anybody home anymore — no matter how loud you knock, nobody answers." |
"This statement has been drafted out of respect for the discretion demanded by his wife," he said.
| "She really needs those secret account numbers..." |
| On her way to the bank to make a withdrawl |
The statement put to rest for now reports that Arafat has died. Israeli TV's Channel Two cited Israeli security officials as saying they had been told by a reliable French source that Arafat had died. However, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said there has been no change in Arafat's condition. Palestinian officials said Arafat was in a coma in the intensive care unit of a French military hospital. |