A French court has opened a murder inquiry into the death eight years ago of former Palestinian president Yasser Arafat, prosecutors said on Tuesday, following claims by his widow that he may have been poisoned.
Arafat died in a Paris military hospital in November 2004, a month after being flown, seriously ill, from his battered headquarters in Ramallah, where he had been effectively confined by Israel for more than two-and-a-half years.
Palestinian Authority chief negotiator Saeb Erekat welcomed the inquiry. However, he said the Arab League would also call at the UN for an international investigation into the death of Arafat, who led Palestinians’ campaign to create a state through years of war and peace.
Allegations of foul play have long surrounded Arafat’s demise after French doctors who treated him in his final days said they could not establish the cause of death.
Many Arabs suspect Israel of being behind his decline and the case returned to the headlines last month when a Swiss institute said it had discovered high levels of the radioactive element polonium-210 on Arafat’s clothing supplied by his widow, Suha.
That substance was found to have killed former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006.
Suha asked a court in the Paris suburb of Nanterre to open a murder investigation following the revelations publicized by the Qatar-based al-Jazeera satellite TV channel.
However, the Institut de Radiophysique in Lausanne said that symptoms described in Arafat’s medical reports were not consistent with polonium-210 and conclusions could not be drawn as to whether he had been poisoned.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said he hoped the French inquiry would reveal more on the circumstances of Arafat’s death.
“This does not pertain to us. The complaint lodged by Suha Arafat with the French police does not address Israel or anyone in particular,” he said. “If the French justice system has decided to open an investigation, we hope that it will shed light on this matter.”
Erekat said a Palestinian committee investigating the death would continue its work.
“We welcome the [French] decision,” he said. “We believe our political and medical team is working in parallel [with the French inquiry]. At the same time the Arab League has now formed a committee, which will call for an international investigation through the UN Security Council.”
Arafat was confined by Israel to his compound after a Palestinian uprising and was already in poor health when he collapsed in October 2004. At first Arafat’s aides said he was suffering from influenza, but, looking weak and thin — and telling aides “God willing, I will be back” — he was flown to France where he slipped into a coma and died on Nov. 11.
A former Israeli official denied the allegations.
Dov Weisglass was chief of staff to the Israeli prime minister when Arafat died in 2004. He says Israel had no interest in harming the Palestinian leader at the end of his political career.
Weisglass told Army Radio yesterday that Israel permitted Arafat to seek medical treatment in France so Israel could not be accused of exacerbating his illness.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source