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Subscribe to RSSLabs in France, Russia and Switzerland will conduct independent tests of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's bone samples, searching for evidence that he could have been poisoned. NBC's Martin Fletcher reports.
Updated at 10:40 a.m. ET: The remains of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat were exhumed from his grave on Tuesday -- eight years after his death at age 75 — as part of an investigation into allegations that he was poisoned, according to official Palestinian radio.
Arafat's body was uncovered in its grave and samples were removed without having to lift the corpse from the ground. As a result, a planned reburial ceremony with full military honors was called off.
The tomb was resealed in hours and wreaths were placed by Palestinian leaders including Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.
"The state of the body was exactly what you would expect to find for someone who has been buried for eight years. There was nothing out of the ordinary," Health Minister Hani Abdeen told a news conference.
A Palestinian medical team took samples and gave them to Swiss, French and Russian experts who flew in for the exhumation and who will examine them in their home countries, the officials said. Samples were taken earlier from Arafat's bedroom, office and personal belongings, they said.
Arafat case: 'Proof' still might elude Palestinians
French judges opened a murder inquiry into Arafat's death in August after a Swiss institute said it had discovered high levels of radioactive polonium on his clothing.
AP
See key moments and memorable scenes from Yasser Arafat's life.
Jordanian doctor Abdullah al Bashir, head of the Palestinian medical committee, said about 20 samples were taken and analysis would take at least three months.
"In order to do these analyses, to check, cross-check and double cross-check, it will take several months and I don't think we'll have anything tangible available before March or April next year," said Darcy Christen, spokesman for Lausanne University Hospital in Switzerland that carried out tests on Arafat's clothes.
Rumors of foul play have long surrounded the sudden demise of Arafat, a champion of Palestinian statehood from the time he was 19, and eventually, the democratically elected president of the Palestinian Authority.
Arafat was revered by many Palestinians and Arabs as a freedom fighter and reviled by many Israelis and its allies as a terrorist for his relentless fight for Palestinian self-determination. But he also had enemies and rivals within the Arab and Palestinian political circles.
He died in November 2004 at a French military hospital, a month after suddenly falling ill. The rapid deterioration of his health and death baffled doctors who were trying to treat him in France, and an autopsy was never performed at the request of his widow, Suha.
'A painful necessity'
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 speculation in the Arab world that Israel poisoned him. Israel has denied such allegations.
Poisoning as a cause of death gained currency after a Swiss institute said it had found high levels of radioactive polonium on Arafat's clothing, which was supplied by Suha, prompting the French to open a formal murder inquiry.
Polonium was the substance that killed Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006. Litvenenko was a Russian ex-spy who later became a relentless critic of the Kremlin.
"It is a painful necessity" to exhume the body of Arafat, said Tawfiq al-Tirawi, who is in charge of the Palestinian committee overseeing the investigation, speaking to reporters in Ramallah on Saturday.
Tirawi said the Palestinians had "evidence which suggests Arafat was assassinated by Israelis," Reuters reported.
The exhumation might not resolve the mystery. Polonium-210 decomposes rapidly, and some experts say it is not clear whether any remaining samples will be sufficient for testing.
NBC's Kari Huus, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Palestinians have begun to exhume the body of Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat in an attempt to determine whether he was assassinated by lethal doses of radioactive poison. NBC's John Ray reports.
More world stories from NBC News:
- Egypt's Morsi, top judges compromise to defuse soaring tensions over decree
- Investigators prepare to exhume Yasser Arafat in murder inquiry
- As battle raged in Syria, Russia sent tons of cash to Damascus, records show
- Fire at German facility for disabled kills 14
- More than 100 killed in Bangladesh factory fire
- Scientists rush to save manta rays, the 'pandas of the ocean'
Leave a Comment:
Who cares if he was poisoned? Do they have any suspects?
They do. Mossad. But I think you and I both know, TTerry, that no matter the results, it will be a stone to throw at Israel. I can't think of anyone who I would trust to do the testing and report the results, unless it's our own American CDC. Too much agenda involved. It is impossible for the Palestinians and the UN to be impartial.
Humans have a little shame! But these Arafats, House of Saud and other Islamic mad bigots, especially Sunnis, don't have shame either to rush to some infidel nations hospitals to get treatments!
What is the big deal if they die in their own nations?
You spoke the truth!!!
yes they do cross the border
Whoever the suspects that may have killed Arafat are, I'd like to shake EACH of their hands. The guy was a dirtbag.
hotticket-I would hazard a guess that everyone of the people that had something against him, are suspects.
Not real intelligent, but in this day and age, nothing seems very intelligent anymore.
The Palestiniand have had a suspect for the past eight years - ISRAEL. The moment Arafat would come down with a cold, the Palestinians would regard that as a Mossad assassiniation plot. Those people do not care about finding a smoking gun, to them everything is a conspracy, dreamed up in Tel Aviv and sanctioned in Washington.
Arafat became the Arabic Napoleon and his compound became Alba - even the PLO cook began to understand he would never see the other side of the compound wall until Arafat went on to his reward -
Now that the rockets are flying and Hamas has paid one too many visits to Arafat's widow - it can be assumed they will find the noxious chemicals in his bones -
What will it solve???? Clinton himself despaired even more than his own impeachment when he realized that Arafat never intended to sign or strike a deal with Israel - his shoulders slumped and he went home to the white house and continued to console himself with Monica -
It's a sad story - and who will turn on the light in this dark room and point to a winner????
@Mandie: Sooooo true!!! Arafat used Clinton to buy time and look like a peace maker, all the while plotting and planning his next move against Isral. He spoke English in Washington and Arabic in Palestine.
Clinton came to realize this. When Bill was close to leaving the White House, Arafat told him what a great president he was. Clinton responded something like - no I'm not because of you.
Clinton wrote an oped after leaving the Oval Office, it was entitled: "Why We Make Microchips and You Make Potato Chips. He vented his spleen toward Arafat and others in the Middle East, he told it like it was then - and is now.
RogerWhite: You hit the nail on the head. All conspiracy theorists. Consider, for example, Max108's delusional posts that bear stark resemblance to the Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement. He probably contributed to the writing of the covenant, especially when you consider his belief that the Jews were behind 9/11.
The desire of the Muslims to commit Jewish genocide has existed since the days of Allah and did not start with the onset of the Arab-Israeli conflict. With regards to imposing Sharia law, they make no distinction between lands originally Muslim and lands that they conquered by force. They are also not in favor of "peaceful solutions," and prefer to kill or be killed. They believe that the Jews started the French Revolution and the first and second world wars and their views on Jews and financial institutions are comparable to the Nazis. They claim freedom of all religions under Islam though go on to say that "Israel, Judaism and Jews challenge Islam and the Moslem people" and that "Peace and quiet would not be possible except under the wing of Islam."
Look up: "Avalon Project: Hamas Covenant 1988," Yale University School of Law for more information.
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hamas.asp
ATTerryftb Wants to know " Who cares if he was poisoned? Do they have any suspects?"
The answer is simple - any Israeli will do - man, woman, or even a child - it doesn't matter.
I wonder what reasoning precedes the notion that the Israeli government wanted Arafat dead when he seemed more concerned about being killed by Fatah factions as an effective rejection of any peace deal he might broker. He certainly would have been killed if he had accepted the 'deal' he was offered - a pitiful contrivance which didn't qualify as a "Two State solution". Anyway, they admit it's unlikely to find anything conclusive now.
Peace deal Arafat might broker? I know he got the nobel peace price, signaling a cheapening of that prize and agenda people who award it. Heck, they gave one to Obama before he even did anything. Clinton and Arafat met at Camp David, and Arafat's parting shot was "Mr. Clinton, you will be know as the President who failed to bring peace in the mideast." Only problem was Arafat said no to everything anyone suggested, and offered no options. He simply said no to everything. Arafat was an old terrorist, and he lived way longer than he should have.
He enjoyed the game and made good money at it. the world is a better place without people like him.
Netanyahu should follow.
@bonos: I'm cool with that.
NBC will go to any length to show support to any enemy of the United States.
The whole thing is just a ploy to keep the USA blowing it's wealth on ME issues. Someone won't be happy no matter the results, if any, of the autopsy just to enjoy the misery it causes us.
stuntman- crying shame isn't it, but it is the truth.
leave that bastard's carcass alone, who cares if he was poisoned or murdered in any other manner, if he died in a Paris hospital (thought he died in the Middle-East), those crazy ignorant Arabs might create troubles for France and the West to include the U.S.A. If the French and/or Israel knew about this grave digging they should have bombed Arafattyboomboom resting place to smithereens ... why open a can of worms (literally) when we already have so many security issues with these retards ...
When Arafat died, his widow pleaded: no autopsy please! Now the same bitch demands autopsy!
"Arafat was revered by many Palestinians and Arabs as a freedom fighter and reviled by many Israelis and its allies as a terrorist for his relentless fight for Palestinian self-determination. But he also had enemies and rivals within the Arab and Palestinian political circles."
Can anyone say: even if he was killed, who did it?
You are very right!!!!!!!
So why does one group of people deserve self determination, and the other group does not? Who decides? people like the authors of these posts? What if there really is a God. What will they say? how much whining will you do on judgement day, as you beg the Lord for mercy and he denies you? when he hands you your fate.
So what if he was poisoned. What will that prove? He's dead. Won't bring him back. Just an excuse to throw more gun powder on the already powder keg of a situation over there.
Truth? Justice?
Why not?
Because they wouldn't find anything, and then she couldn't blame Israel for her husband dying of old age.
We know Bin Laden died of lead poisoning, but doubt that's what killed Arafat.
tea- that was GOOD!
imarat died from a different kind of poisoning. He was known to enjoy rear ending little boys as was the practice of the perfect man, mohamat.
I didn't think they'd ever actually dig him up. But I am a chemist, and there is no physical way his clothes could have that much polonium on them without killing half the neighborhood. It is obvious that whoever did the first test screwed up, and now they are forced to continue this charade to the conclusion.
I just have something to say here.... "WHO CARES"..........
He probably died from AIDS that he contacted from sucking on all those little boys pee pee's that he had such a craving for. He was nothing but a perverted, rotten old man that loved to kill people. Leave him alone to rot in the stinkhole where he belongs.
Lj, you are sick... Get some help!
LJ...Can you back up your claim that Arafat was a pedophile, or is this your own fantasizing projected onto someone else?
He probably can't back up the claim with pictures or God forbid, first hand knowledge, but Muhammad, the so called prophet, was a bonafide child molesting pedophile and all those worthless Muslims want to emulate him. So yes, Arafat or AraRAT, ( whichever way you want to spell it ) probably was a little pee-pee sucking pedophile.
jersey, people who use avatars that are meant to make themselves look cool , usually can't back anything up. Right wing people demonize anyone that is not like them. it is just their way. Most suffer from Munchhausen related personality disorder.
John,
Sorry to bust your bubble, but there is no " Rightwinger " here. I voted for Obama in 08". I didn't vote this year as nothing has really changed for the better since then and I didn't like Romney's plans.
I have seen first hand the " Glory of Allah " and the " Religion of Peace and Tolerance ", in action so I can say what I want about it. As for my Avatar, my wife took the picture, she liked it and suggested it for the Avatar. If you don't like it, put your sunglasses on when you read my post so that it's ' Coolness " doesn't blind you.
I just hope that he is still dead.
I like turtles!
Best post so far!!!!!!
Much like the Catholic Church did in the US when Halloween was waning, a move in Isreal to accomodate recent illegal aliens from Mexico and make them more at home has been launched with the Mexican Day of the Dead ceremonies to involve the famous Palestian leader with exhumation of his body and week long street celebrations surrounding the carcass.
Mexicans in Israel? OK that's funny. I mean that is REALLY funny. You obviously don't know anything about Israel or it's people. Or your sarcasm is frighteningly good and you deserve a nod. Good day.
lilian101,
What the hell are you talking about? What does Mexicans have to do with this post? I think you are a tad bit off subject.
So thats were Jimmy Hoffa has been hiding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Looks like 2012 is going to be the end times after all.
They just resurrected Satan.
LMAO!
To all imbeciles, incuding author of this article. If this evil doer, chronical liar, murderer and thief was a "freedom fighter", so was a Hitler in that case, may both their names will be erased. If Israelies wanted this clown dead he would be dead long time before that. is it so hard to understand this simple logic, or political correcton, and social mental disorder completely meshed your brains and turned you into drones? The only real question left to ask is: "Why did they decide to bring this filthy abomination back? "
Pssst.... Spate! you sound like a drone yourself
What I don't understand is why should Palestinians be accountable to Americans? Americans are the ones footing the bill, financially and militarily, to make it possible for Israel to conduct its siege and occupation of Palestinian land decade after decade after decade.
So why should Palestinians have to explain themselves to Americans just so Palestinians can be left alone by Israel?
These Palestinians are born and go to school and marry and have families and then watch their grandchildren being born and go to school and have their own families and, yet, they're surrounded by Jewish settlers from the US who want to take their land and the US is supporting these foreign Jewish settlers because US politicans want to get more votes and the AIPAC money.
It's the height of arrogance for American politicians and journalists to tell Palestinians who they are and who they're not and what belongs and doesn't belong to them.
The US already lost Egypt, Lybia, Tunisia, Yemen, Iraq, and if Americans don't get real soon enough they'll also be losing Israel.
"... to make it possible for Israel to conduct its siege and occupation of Palestinian land decade after decade after decade."
Are you really that uneducated? Israel occupies no place that it didn't gain as land while defending itself from EXTERMINATION. They BOUGHT some of the land in 1948, and the rest they WON in war. That's how it works, sir. For thousands upon thousands of years, that's how it's worked - people gain land through purchase or battle. For goodness sake, Israel gave Gaza back & are now being attacked from there. Speaking of which - you DO realize that there has NEVER been an an autonomous Palestinian state there, ever. EVER. PALESTINIANS are the occupiers. That's not American arrogance, that's using your brain, and being educated on world history.
"So why should Palestinians have to explain themselves to Americans just so Palestinians can be left alone by Israel?"
I can't even fathom the utter emptiness in your brain. It must be a very confusing world for you.
Here, let me help. Palestine/Hamas has fired on Israel off and on for 12 YEARS. Israel has taken it without retaliation for 12 YEARS - all the while providing Palestinian refugees with food and aid. They finally fight back - because they have a RIGHT and a RESPONSIBILITY to protect and defend their country and their people - and you want to ignore the last decade and say "OH, they're attacking us!!" ?!
I know, they're ridiculous that they don't like that they've had 1000 rockets fired at them (and over 800 fired before they even started fighting back). How could anyone not enjoy that? Let me be clear, if you start punching me, don't be surprised and start whining when I stop ducking and blocking, and instead start throwing my own punches.
Also, Israeli citizens can't vote in U.S. elections, you fool. Stop talking, your ignorance is showing.
True, Pearce, Israeli citizens can't vote in U.S. elections, but I believe Esam was referring to the American Jewish vote which relies heavily on our politicians blindly supporting Israel in its endeavors.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is much like that between the heavily armed U.S. Calvary and our Native Americans... very slanted to one side. Take their land then demonize them and try like heck to eliminate them so they can't try to get it back!
Nancy -
If the cavalry is better armed than the indians, then maybe the indians shouldn't be repeatedly firing on them. And if they insist on repeatedly firing upon the cavalry, they shouldn't be shocked when the cavalry eventually grows tired of it and fights back.
Common sense - it's a valuable thing.
So Americans decimated most of the 5 miilion Indians because they Indians were firing at them? That's news to me. I thought Americans kept breaking their treaties with the Indians pushing them off every land the Indians settled until the 300,000 left of them settled in so called reservations.
According the Jewish National Fund established in 1901 with the specific purpose to buy lnad from the Palestinians admits Jews were only able to buy 7% of the land in Palestine by 1948. And that's why the Palestinians rejected the UN Partition Plan which granted 56% of their land to the Jews, most of whom arrived to Palestine AFTER WW2.
As far as Hamas rockets please remeber Israel has watchtowers along the Gaza borders and for years on end the Israeli soldiers manning those towers like to target practice on Palestinian farmers and their homes, with or without a ceasefire. Israeli soldiers also like to do target practice on Palestinian fishermen.
It's never reported in the media so when Palestinians throw a rocket in response people like you have no idea why.
THE ORIGINAL SIN
"If we had invested in the Arab problem one tenth of the energy, the passion, the ingenuity, the resourcefulness which we developed in order to gain the support of Britain, France, the US and Weimar Germany, our destiny in the development of Israel may have been quite different. We were not ready for compromises; we did not regard it as a major problem. We did not make sufficient efforts to get, if not the full agreement of the Arabs, at least their acquiescence to a Jewish state, which I think would have been possible. That was the original sin."
Dr. Nahum Goldmann,
President of the World Jewish Congress
If Arabs had invested the into life-improvement tenth of energy and passion that they invested into this war, Gaza and West Bank would be paradise by now.
Any amount of Polonium in his clothing after all these years should be considered a high level, and I would suspect that the readings from his body would exceed that of his clothing by a great deal (unless it was the clothing that was the source of the Polonium). Either way, short half-life or not, it should still be apparent in his tissues if there was radiation poising present simply by blood cell counts or hemaglobin levels. We'll know soon.
The po 210 is most likely gone, but it's decay product "po 209 has a half live of over 100 years . ooops :)
So many brilliant people in this thread lol
gpj-
sounds like people are confusing po 209 (polonium 209) and pb 206 (lead 206). all the geniuses here can do the research and find which is a decay product of po 210. Though, one should go to an actual library and check multiple sources - not everything posted on the internet is correct.
in any case, I doubt the actual truth will matter here, people always seem to find an excuse to do what they want to do...
Who is that funny looking dude? He cant be anybody important. Who cares how he died? I don't care about this clown.
That @!$%# terrrorist dead may his soul NOT rest in peace, who gives a @!$%# how he died
I do
If you really do george pauljohn, why are you not in gaza shooting rockets or killing jewish children or killing people by dragging them behind your motorcycle?
I'm not sure what makes a terrorist. I mean Captain Rodgers commanded the USS Vincennes to steam into Iranian waters engage Iranian gun boats then blow a civilian airliner out of the sky killing 290 people. The navy claimed it was an accident but they gave him a medal for it so I guess it wasn't. I starting to think a terrorist is anyone on the other side.
Rumor says he died of AIDS related complications.
This murdering lying outlaw terrorist thug deserved death no matter what may have killed him. In fact he deserved worse than any poisoning death. Surely there is a consuming hot spot waiting for him in Hell and the hotter for him the more he deserves it!
This still wont prove Israel did it. Besides where is the proof that type of poisoning causes a stroke? Nothing is mentioned about that. This all just another page in a long history of BS in the middle east. Blah blah blah now i have to kill you blah blah blah now i have to kill you back. Savages.
I wonder if the whole Polonium poisoning episode is a Russian calling card - maybe Arafat became too much of an embarrassing liability to that government - and they just - poof- wanted him gone....
First, that was one of the reachest of the World. He's wealth estimated from 3 to 5 B. The major investment Automotive Industry as Mercedes, BMW etc and energy delivery. The book of escaped Russian high ranking Espy officer, publicized in UK shows the picture of the younger Arafat (40-45) in front of the Lenin's Mavzoley, on the Red Square in Moskow, together with his KGB Kurator, Colonel Samoilenko. The Arafat's father was the Chief resident of ABVER (Reikhsver's Intelligence Service) on Mid East during the WWII. The last 15 years of his life he was the good friend and the business partner of Shimon Peretz (current Israely President). They was co-founders and co-owners of the Casino in Erikho, Judea (West Bank in leftists' political lingo). He was suffering in Tunisian exile unless Peretz convinced Israely government bring him back and reanimate his political image.
"He's Dead Jim." - This is something that frequently happens to 75 year old men.
"You shot him. I'm glad." Melanie, GWTW.
I don't know if he got a "shot" of anything, but I'm glad he's dead. He was the original terrorist and may he rot forever. He was behind so many despicable acts that he is a shame on the whole planet. He did nothing but hurt, destroy and make a disaster of everything he touched.
The only reason they are digging him up now, (and defiling their whole religious pretense), is so that the power mongers can fan the flames of war in the Middle East. We all know who they are and why they are doing it: money and power at any cost. And of course, the ignorant, stupid and easily led will bite on every morsel spread before them.
It wouldn't surprise me in the least that Arafat died of natural causes. Then some sort of murder episode from CSI was created on his body, just to stir up more trouble.
No matter how he died, "I'm glad he's dead."
Po-210 has a half-life of 138 days, (inside the human body,
which is the only way it can kill you, the half- life is cut down to 50 days as
the body works to dispose of the element itself). He has been dead for just
over 8 years, so the po-210 has completed 21+ half-lives, which would make the
amount present today less than .000047684 of one percent left in the body. That
is less than 5 hundred thousandths of one percent of the original element
amount would be left to be discovered.
The maximum allowable body burden for ingested polonium is
only 6.8 picograms, so figure 7 picograms to kill someone. There are 1 trillion
picograms in a gram.
The bottom line ..... Good luck finding anything - If
something is found, question what you are being told.
Oh, for you smokers out there, Polonium 210 is contained in
tobacco and by is released by smoking it, so you are inhaling it when you
smoke. I just thought that you might like to know.
DUDE, all that fancy scientific mumbo jumbo talk is giving me a headache!
Just kidding! Very well said. So what you are saying is if they find any Po- 210 in his corpse, it was probably planted during the autopsy? That's gonna set off the conspiracy freaks!
Let me go smoke a cigarette, I've always wanted to start a nasty habit that cost me a lot of money.
Noah, you're probably right that they won't find anything but it depends on what they are looking for and how they are doing it. Po-208 has a half life of about 3 years and Po-209 has a half life of 103 years. It maybe possible to detect small concentrations with an industrial scintillation counter and measuring it for a several days. But the concentration, what ever it might be, will be tiny and very difficult to detect.
I don't know the details concerning the traces they found on the clothing, but it was enough to get permission to exhume his body and acquire a sample, almost unheard of in the Muslim world.