Arafat's body to be exhumed in probe

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 25 November 2012 | 20.01

The body of Yasser Arafat will exhumed to determine how the Palestinian leader died. Source: AP

THE remains of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat will be exhumed on Tuesday as part of a renewed investigation into his death, a Palestinian investigator says.

Arafat died in November 2004 in a French military hospital, a month after suddenly falling ill. Palestinian officials claim he was poisoned by Israel, but have not presented evidence. Israel has denied such allegations.

Earlier this year, the detection of a lethal radioactive substance in biological traces on Arafat's clothing sparked a new investigation. Tests were inconclusive, and experts said they need to check his remains to learn more.

On Tuesday, Swiss, French and Russian experts will take samples from Arafat's bones, said Tawfik Tirawi, who heads the Palestinian team investigating the death.

Arafat will be reburied the same day with military honours, but the ceremony will be closed to the public, Mr Tirawi told a news conference.

Forensic experts are slated to exhume the body of former Palestinian president Yasser Arafat to investigate claims he was killed by radioactive poison. Lindsey Parietti reports.

Earlier this month, workers began prying open the concrete-encased tomb in Arafat's former government headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

The Palestinian Authority, the self-rule government in the West Bank, had hesitated before agreeing to exhume the remains, in part because of cultural and religious sensitivities.

Since mid-November, the gravesite has been surrounded with a blue tarpaulin and roads leading to the Arafat mausoleum were closed.

Arafat is still widely revered in the Palestinian territories, and Palestinian officials said they don't want the process observed by media and others.

Forensic experts will take samples from Yasser Arafat's remains as part of an investigation into his death.

The new probe into his death began this summer, after a Swiss lab discovered traces of polonium-210, a deadly radioactive isotope, on clothes said to be his.

The clothes were provided by Arafat's widow, Soha, and given to the lab by the Arab satellite TV station Al-Jazeera.

Separately, Mrs Arafat asked the French government to investigate, while the Palestinian Authority called in Russian experts.

Arafat's death has remained a mystery for many.

While the immediate cause of death was a stroke, the underlying source of an illness he suffered in his final weeks has never been clear, leading to persistent conspiracy theories that he had cancer, AIDS or was poisoned.

Many in the Arab world believe Arafat, the face of the Palestinian independence struggle for four decades, was killed by Israel.

Israel, which saw Arafat as an obstacle to peace, vehemently denies the charge.

There is no guarantee the exhumation will solve the mystery.

Polonium-210 is known to rapidly decompose, and experts are divided over whether any remaining samples will be sufficient for testing.


 


Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

Arafat's body to be exhumed in probe

Dengan url

http://duniasikasik.blogspot.com/2012/11/arafats-body-to-be-exhumed-in-probe.html

Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya

Arafat's body to be exhumed in probe

namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link

Arafat's body to be exhumed in probe

sebagai sumbernya

0 komentar:

Posting Komentar

techieblogger.com Techie Blogger Techie Blogger