ANKARA
A report released Wednesday into the death of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who died nine years ago at age of 75, supports the theory that he was poisoned with polonium.
The Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) founder who spent much of his life fighting against Israel in the name of Palestinian self-determination, fell ill in October 2004, displaying symptoms of acute gastroenteritis with diarrhoea and vomiting. At first Palestinian officials said he was suffering from influenza.
Arafat was flown to Paris but fell into a coma shortly after his arrival at the Percy military hospital where he died. His body was exhumed last year amid continuing claims he had been poisoned.
Tests carried out by Swiss scientists appear to support this theory. The 108-page report indicates he may have died from radiation poisoning.
"New toxicological investigations were performed, demonstrating unexpectedly high levels of polonium-210 and lead-210 in many of the analysed specimens," said the report, carried out by scientists at the Vaudois University Hospital Centre.
It added that polonium levels in "bones and soft tissues were up to 20 times larger" than hypothesised. This firmly rules out the possibility, previously reported in some media, that passive smoking had caused greater than normal polonium levels in Arafat's body, say the scientists.
However, they stressed that there were several critical problems with their investigation, including that it had been based on limited eight year old samples.
Therefore the "chain of custody" of some of the specimens was unclear.
The results reveal "a real crime, a political assassination,” said Arafat's widow, Suha, in Paris.
Arafat's medical records say he died in 2004 from a stroke resulting from a blood disorder.
Polonium-210 is a highly radioactive substance. It is found in low doses in food and created naturally in the body, but can be fatal if ingested in high doses.
The scientists say their tests "moderately support" the theory that Arafat was poisoned with polonium.
