RAMALLAH: The Yasser Arafat Foundation said yesterday there was “no need” for more proof the Palestinian leader was poisoned in what appeared to be a stance against French plans to exhume his body.
“Since the formation of this Foundation, it has forcefully held on to the fact that Yasser Arafat died abnormally after being killed by a poison which was unidentified at the time,” it said in a statement. “The Foundation does not see a need here for more proof.”
The statement was issued just days after a delegation of French magistrates said they would travel to the West Bank to investigate following claims Arafat may have succumbed to poisoning by the radioactive substance polonium. No date has been given for the trip which would involve forensic officers exhuming the body and taking samples for laboratory testing in a probe sought by Arafat's widow Suha.
A source from the Foundation said they would only agree to a further examination of his body if it was conducted as part of an international investigation committee.
No need for more proof of ‘Arafat poison’
