cancer treatment in France, Palestinian officials said. It will be the first time in two years that the 75-year-old president and former guerrilla leader, who has for decades symbolized the conflict with Israel for a Palestinian state, will leave his besieged West Bank headquarters.
Reuters news agency quoted Palestinian officials as saying he agreed to leave after Israeli Prime Minister and long time foe, Ariel Sharon, promised to let him return. A senior Palestinian official told Reuters that Arafat was suspected to be suffering from leukemia, a cancer of the blood that can be fatal.
Arafat, short, stubble-bearded and usually seen in his trademark black-and-white Arab headdress, has named no successor since emerging from exile under interim peace accords.
Analysts say his failing health has caused great uncertainty among Palestinians and has raised serious questions about who might succeed him at the head of the Palestinian leadership.
RAMALLAH
Till the early hours Friday, reporters, camera crews and Palestinian officials gathered at Yasser Arafat’s compound in Ramallah. Doctors from Egypt and Jordan were reportedly brought in to examine the frail Palestinian leader.
Later in the day Palestinian officials released a group photo, showing a visibly weak, but smiling Mr. Arafat surrounded by his aides and supporters. The photo appeared designed, above all, to reassure the Palestinian people that Yasser Arafat may be ill, but that he is still hanging on, news reports said.
Palestinian legislator Hannan Ashrawi said on the Voice of America network that attitude, displayed by those around Arafat, is understandable.
INSTITUTIONS
"They want to make sure that things proceed smoothly, that institutions function and that despite the fact that the president is indisposed that there is a political system functioning and everybody’s hopeful that he will recover," he said.
"They want to make sure that things proceed smoothly, that institutions function and that despite the fact that the president is indisposed that there is a political system functioning and everybody’s hopeful that he will recover."
Regardless of who assumes the leadership role, there was enough uncertainty to have prompted a special meeting of Israeli security officials to consider contingency plans.
There is special concern about the Gaza Strip where rival factions have been involved in sometimes-bloody power struggles in advance of a planned Israeli pullout next year. West Bank cities like Jenin and Nablus, where numerous armed militias have established control to one degree or another, are also a major concern, analysts say.
