MORE ON ARAFAT'S HEALTH PROBLEMS

Arafat diagnosed with gallstones
Yasser Arafat has a large gallstone, a Palestinian hospital official said Tuesday, as the weakened Palestinian leader broke his Ramadan fast and underwent more medical tests at the urging of his doctors. The gallstone is not life threatening and can be easily treated, the official told The Associated Press.

Palestinian officials insisted Arafat, 75, was simply recovering from a lengthy bout of the flu. However, Palestinian medical sources said he has been inexplicably exhausted in recent weeks and Israeli officials have speculated he is suffering from stomach cancer.

Teams of Egyptian and Tunisian doctors have examined him in recent days. On Monday, he underwent an endoscopy, or exam of the digestive tract. And he has not led Muslim evening prayers at the makeshift mosque in his compound, as he has done in the past during the fasting month of Ramadan.

Hospital sources said they had brought X-ray and ultrasound machines to Arafat's compound two days ago to perform tests on his chest and stomach. The X-ray turned up clean, but the ultrasound uncovered a 1-centimeter-long (0.4-inch-long) gallstone.

Doctors recommended Arafat undergo minor surgery to remove the stone, but he has not yet responded, the source said. Arafat suffered from gallstones last year, and his aides denied rumors he had stomach cancer. In recent years, Arafat has developed a tremor in his lips and hands, considered a possible symptom of Parkinson's disease.

I HOPE IT BURNS LIKE THE SHRAPNEL OF 10,000 SUICIDE BOMBS.