Suha Arafat Not Expected to Make it Through the Night
AP News Wire
by Kilgore Trout
With reports coming out that Yasser Arafat has suffered a brain haemorrhage, Palestinian officials don't expect Suha Arafat, to make it through the night. Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei visited Mr Arafat's bedside in a two-hour visit to the French hospital. Querei urged all to pray for the ailing palestinian leader, and to prepare for a funeral ceremony for his wife as well.
From the BBC: "Mr Arafat, 75, was taken to France 11 days ago, leaving his battered Ramallah headquarters for the first time in nearly three years. Officials at the hospital earlier confirmed that Mr Arafat's coma had deepened. However, the reasons for his illness are still not clear."
In Ramallah, the Palestinian chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, who spoke with tears in his eyes, echoed Querei's calls for prayer and assured all that in the event of Arafat's death that arangements would be made for him and his wife in Ramallah.
The visit to Paris follows a public row with Mrs Arafat's wife Suha, who has been controlling access to her husband.
On Monday, Mrs Arafat accused the leaders of conspiring against her husband, telling the Arabic TV station al-Jazeera they were trying "to bury Arafat while he is still alive".
Mahmoud Abbas, the former Palestinian prime minister, is currently in charge of the Palestine Liberation Organisation and Fatah - the biggest faction in the PLO and Mr Arafat's political organisation was overheard telling insiders, " I jsut hope she has a nice suit picked out for the funeral..."