PALESTINIAN CONSPIRACY THEORIES

Arafat's doctor: Poison is 'highest' probability
A leading Jordanian neurologist who regularly examined Yasser Arafat said on Friday that poisoning was the "highest" probable cause of the Palestinian leader's mysterious death and urged that an autopsy be performed. "One of the causes of platelet deficiency is poison," said Dr. Ashraf al-Kurdi, who examined a gravely ill Arafat in his besieged compound in the West Bank town of Rammallah two weeks ago.

Arafat died Thursday in Paris, where he had flown Oct. 29 for treatment after tests indicated he had a low count of blood platelets, components that help clotting. Although "not definitive, I believe the highest reason for Arafat's mysterious death is poisoning," al-Kurdi told The Associated Press in an interview on Friday. "Therefore, there should be an autopsy performed," added al-Kurdi, who had been Arafat's personal physician for the last two decades.

There has been widespread speculation that Arafat could have been poisoned by Israel. Neither doctors nor Palestinian leaders have said what caused Arafat's death after days in a coma at a Paris hospital. Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom on Thursday dismissed allegations that Israel killed Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat as "scandalous and false."

THAT'S RIGHT, BLAME IT ON ISRAEL, JUST LIKE EVERY TIME SOME PALESTINIAN STUBS HIS TOE. YO, AL-KURDI, WHO HAD MOTIVE ($6 BILLION) AND OPPORTUNITY - HIS UNDERBOSSES. WHO REFUSED TO ALLOW AN AUTOPSY TO BE PERFORMED? - HIS UNDERBOSSES.

MEANWHILE, ARAFAT'S EXTENDED, INBRED FAMILY IS EMERGING FROM THEIR RATHOLES...

Senior Palestinian renews poisoning suspicion in Arafat death: Turkish paper
ANKARA (AFP) - A senior Palestinian official has renewed suspicions that Yasser Arafat might have died as a result of poisoning, according to an interview with a Turkish newspaper. Nasser al-Qidwa, Arafat's nephew and Palestinian representative at the United Nations, told the daily Vatan that Arafat's health problem was"such a complicated condition that a diagnosis was not possible." In comments on rumors that Arafat might have been poisoned, al-Qidwawas quoted as saying: "This is our biggest suspicion. If it were a normal death, it would have been possible to put a diagnosis so far."Palestinian foreign minister Nabil Shaath has insisted that the 75-year-old leader was not been poisoned but rumors have flown back and forth over what exactly he died of amid the refusal of French doctors to disclose the cause of death to anyone but his family.

HEY, MAYBE THE ISRAELIS CAUSED THIS GUY'S CANCER!!

Fathi Arafat unaware his older brother died
Yasser Arafat's younger brother Fathi, who is hospitalized in a Cairo hospital, still does not know that his elder brother had died. Fathi is terminally ill and his doctors decided that he shouldn't be disturbed with the news of his brother's death, the Kuwaiti daily al-Qabas reported Saturday.

On Tuesday, Palestinian officials in Ramallah confirmed that Fathi Arafat is in critical condition in a Cairo hospital after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. They said Fathi, 67, who is suffering from intestinal cancer, was in life-threatening condition after undergoing several surgeries. The cancer was first discovered three years ago and doctors had to remove part of his intestine last year. Earlier this week, he was transferred from the Palestine Hospital in Cairo to the Wadi al-Nil Military Hospital after a dramatic deterioration in his health.

Fathi, who resembles his brother in his outward appearance, was one of the founders of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in 1968. He graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at Cairo University in 1957 and spent several years working in Egypt, Kuwait and Jordan, before returning to the Gaza Strip after the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1994. He quit his position as chairman of the Palestinian Red Crescent three years ago, but has served as honorable chairman since. He is also a senior member of Fatah. ...

Unlike his brother, Fathi has maintained a low-profile, staying away from the spotlight and rarely making public appearances. A Palestinian official said Fathi was unaware of the fact that his brother had been transferred to Paris for medical treatment. "He wasn't allowed to watch TV or read newspapers because doctors feared for his health if he found out that his brother was very ill," the official explained. "But in the last few days he's been unconscious and unaware of what's happening around him."