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Al-Jazzera investigation points to Yasser Arafat poisoning - Abbas OKs exhuming body


Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, sees no reason why Yasser Arafat's body should not be exhumed following an Al Jazeera report that he may have died of poisoning, his spokesman said on Wednesday.

Nabil Abu Rudeinah said that the Palestinian Authority would use "Arab and international scientific expertise" to review the findings.

A nine-month investigation by Al Jazeera found that Arafat's final belongings - his clothes, his toothbrush, even his iconic kaffiyeh - contained elevated levels of polonium, a rare, highly radioactive element.

Scientists at the Institut de Radiophysique in Lausanne, Switzerland, who studied Arafat's personal items, said that his bones could offer more conclusive evidence that he was poisoned.

"There are no political or religious reasons that prevent researching this issue," Abu Rudeinah said, "including the exhumation of Arafat's body by a reliable and trustworthy medical and scientific authority."

Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, also called for an international committee to study Arafat's death, similar to the one investigating the assassination of Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri in 2005.

"[It] is a must," Erekat told Al Jazeera. "And we will do it first through the United Nations security council. We hope everyone will cooperate with us, because we seek the truth and nothing but the truth." more

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