Investigation to open into claims Israel murdered Yasser Arafat

From AFP

A foundation devoted to the memory of veteran Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said on Monday it will open a new investigation into his mysterious death in 2004.

"The committee will include Arab doctors responsible for Arafat's health before he was moved to Paris and a number of political officials," Nasser al-Qidwa, Arafat's nephew who heads the foundation, told reporters.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner who led the struggle for Palestinian statehood for nearly four decades died in a French military hospital on November 11 after being airlifted there from his headquarters in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

At the time of Arafat's death at the age of 75, Palestinian officials alleged he had been poisoned by long-time foe Israel, but an inconclusive Palestinian investigation in 2005 ruled out cancer, AIDS and poisoning.

Israel certainly contributed to Arafat's untimely death after keeping him under siege for two years in his compound. Go to the Yasser Arafat Foundation website

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