Swiss laboratory to investigate Arafat death
A Swiss laboratory is to help investigate the death of
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat after receiving the go-ahead from his widow,
researchers from the Institute of Radiation Physics at Lausanne’s university
hospital said on Friday.
A team of Swiss scientists will test the exhumed body of
former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for traces of radioactive polonium.
Poisoning by this substance is suspected as a possible cause in Arafat’s 2004
death. The laboratory has agreed to investigate the causes based on the
guarantee its findings will not be used for political purposes, a spokesman for
the lab commented recently.
The Swiss Radiophysics Institute previously found traces
of a deadly polonium isotope on Arafat's clothing provided by his widow for a
recent Al Jazeera television documentary.
"We have been invited by the Palestinian National
Authority and we are currently studying the most appropriate way of responding
to this request," Darcy Christen, spokesman for the institute, said in an
emailed reply to a Reuters question.
"Meanwhile, our main concern is to guarantee the
independence, the credibility and the transparency of any involvement that we
may have," Christen said.
Arafat was a guerilla-turned-statesman who came to
symbolize the Palestinian quest for statehood throughout decades of war and
peace with Israel.
After being stricken with an ailment which remains
unknown, the president was airlifted to France in 2004 when he fell ill during
an extended siege Israel mounted on his compound during a Palestinian uprising.
He died shortly thereafter.
His death aroused rumors among Palestinians of an
assassination, which many blamed on Israel. An investigation into the case
could rekindle Palestinian hostility toward Israel and widespread suspicions
that a local collaborator may have poisoned him under directions from the
Jewish state.
Tawfiq Tirawi, head of the committee looking into the
death, told reporters the Swiss institute was seeking assurances before sending
experts to the Palestinians' administrative capital in Ramallah, but did not
disclose the nature of those guarantees.
"The content of our correspondence pertained to the
necessity of their arrival and our welcoming of their presence in Palestine as
quickly as possible, but they have some legal issues and legal
procedures," Tirawi said.
Exhuming Arafat's body from its limestone mausoleum in
the center of the Palestinian Authority's presidential compound in Ramallah
would be a deeply emotional move for Palestinians, but one for which the local
investigative committee says the government and his family are prepared.
"We've asked for (the Swiss team's) arrival at full
speed...the leadership has resolved to grant them any investigations they might
request," Tirawi said.
After the Arafat documentary was aired, his widow Suha
petitioned a French court to open a murder probe, claiming the circumstances of
his death had been mysterious and French forensic authorities had disposed of
samples taken from his body with undue haste.
Palestinian officials have called for an international
investigation into the case, along the lines of the United Nations Special
Tribunal for slain Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, and the Arab League
has formed a special committee to advocate for a United Nations inquiry.
Comments
Post a Comment