Palestinians called for an international investigation into the death of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
Palestinians called for an international investigation into the death of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
The call comes after a report broadcast on the Qatar-based channel, al-Jazeera, suggested that Arafat could have poisoned with the radioactive substance polonium.
The report cited a nine-month investigation the channel had commissioned on Arafat's 2004 death.
For his part, senior Palestinian official Saeb Erakat called for a probe into the late leader’s death.
"We call for the formation of an international investigation committee, modeled on the international investigation committee set up to look into the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri," he told AFP news agency.
Arafat's widow Suha Arafat, in an interview with AFP on Wednesday said she would push for her husband's body to be exhumed so further tests could be carried out.
"I will immediately address an official letter to the Swiss laboratory that conducted the tests ... to authorize the collection of samples from the remains of the martyr Arafat to verify the results and accelerate the uncovering of the truth about the assassination of Arafat," she said.
On the other hand, Tawfiq Tirawi, who led a Palestinian probe into Arafat's death, said Palestinian authorities would allow an analysis of samples from the leader's remains - which are buried in Ramallah on the West Bank - if his family agreed.
"After the Al-Jazeera broadcast, I met today with president (Mahmud) Abbas and recommended accepting an analysis of the body of the martyr president Arafat, and Abbas for his part agreed on the condition that the family ... accepts," he said prior to Suha Arafat's statement.
The Al-Jazeera investigation centered on forensic testing of items belonging to Arafat, including clothing worn by him that were handed to Suha by the Paris hospital where the Palestinian leader died in November 2004 at the age of 75.
