Fox News is reporting that there are growing questions about the current state of the health of Yassir Arafat, the Palestinian Authority’s president and the PLO’s Godfather-of-Terrorism.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has allowed Tunisian doctors to enter Yasser Arafat’s compound in the West Bank to treat him for the flu, officials there told FOX News.
Three Tunisian doctors were headed to Arafat’s Ramallah headquarters, where the 75-year-old Palestinian leader has been confined since after the second intifada began four years ago.
“The president is in good health. He is suffering from a cold,” a Tunisian representative was quoted as saying in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. “There is nothing to worry about.”
But sources told FOX News the Palestinian Liberation Organization leader’s condition has seriously deteriorated since Friday, when Israeli TV first reported he had the flu. Palestinian sources said that if the doctors determine Arafat needs surgery he will be flown to an overseas hospital.
However, Sharon has long stated that should Arafat ever leave the West Bank compound, he will not be allowed to return. The PLO has placed part of the blame for its leader’s deteriorating health on his confinement by the Israelis.
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Arafat was treated by a team of Jordanian and Egyptian doctors earlier this month for complaints including fever, severe diarrhea and vomiting, the Jerusalam Post reported. He had been ill for some time, and aides were said to be worried about his condition.
The flu, if that is indeed the case here, is not a laughing matter for a 75-year-old. Arafat has earned a slow, painful death without glory; perhaps this is it. Odds are against it this time, but sooner or later the greatest hindrance to peace for Israel has to drift off and take the dirt nap.
One notable downside of turning a career as a reknowned terrorist into an internationally-acclaimed despot is that the whole world gets to know when you have severe diarrhea. Ah, the glamorous life in Ramallah.