Jerusalem - Political leaders in Israel and the West Bank steeled themselves for the end of the Yasser Arafat era as the vanguard of the Palestinian nationalist struggle lay brain dead in a Paris hospital.
Palestinian officials on Thursday fiercely denied that Arafat had passed away, after Israeli media reported that the 75-year-old had died.
But while French medical sources said Arafat was technically still alive, they added that he was brain dead and was breathing only with the help of life support machines while in an irreversible coma.
Technically, Arafat is "not dead", one source said on condition of confidentiality. But there was no hope of his leaving his vegetative state and recovering basic bodily functions such as breathing without assistance.
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Such artificial care could be "extended for several days or several weeks thanks to the machines", the source said.
Israel's private Channel 2 network and army radio had reported that Arafat had been declared dead at a military hospital in Clamart, south-west of Paris.
But Azzam al-Ahmed, communications minister in the Palestinian cabinet and one of Arafat's closest allies, insisted that news of his death was premature.
"It is wrong. If the president was dead, the whole world would know," he said. "But it is true that he is in a very critical condition."
Arafat was flown to Paris last Friday for treatment of a blood disorder after being airlifted from the compound in the West Bank town of Ramallah where he had been under effective Israeli house arrest for nearly three years.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei had earlier tried to play down the seriousness of Arafat's condition, denying he was in a coma and insisting that new test results had been positive.
Qorei had been attending emergency leadership meetings of the Palestine Liberation Organisation and the dominant Fatah party. Both have been led by Arafat for about four decades, but were chaired on Thursday by former premier Mahmud Abbas.
Hundreds of Fatah supporters brandished portraits of Arafat as they took to the streets of Gaza City late on Thursday while prayers were said for his welfare.
Amid widespread fears that Arafat's death could trigger chaos on the streets of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, all members of the Palestinian security services were placed on standby on Thursday.
"The security forces have been put on a state of alert and all members ordered to be on standby," one senior officer said.
Signs of nerves on the Israeli side were also evident as troops in the occupied territories were placed on alert after Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz called a meeting in Tel Aviv attended by the heads of the country's security services.
Israeli public television, meanwhile, reported that army commanders were to urge the government to capitalise on Arafat's demise by working more closely with the Palestinians. - Sapa-AFP
- This article was originally published on page 1 of The Star on November 05, 2004
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