Arafat's health suffers Setback, Rushed to Intensive Care
Pakistan Times Monitoring Desk

PARIS (France): Health of the ailing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has deteriorated, Palestinian officials said on Wednesday night.

Arafat is being treated at a military hospital in Paris for an undisclosed medical condition.

Palestinian envoy Leila Shahid told BBC that his health had suffered a setback, but gave no further details.

Turn for the Worse

Her statement followed reports in the Israeli media that Arafat's condition had taken a turn for the worse on Wednesday evening.

Blood tests are reported to have revealed that 75-year-old Arafat has a low count of platelets, which are needed for clotting, but doctors are unsure of what is causing the condition.

"Obviously in his case, there could be setbacks at times and this is a setback," Ms Shahid told a news agency.

Clear Explanation Today

"Tomorrow, Thursday [Today], the doctors will give a very clear and direct explanation and report on what is happening," she said.

Arafat was flown to the French capital last Friday with a mystery illness from his headquarters in the town of Ramallah in the West Bank.

Intensive Care Unit

Yet another report says that Yasser Arafat is being treated in an intensive care unit after his health deteriorated in the Paris hospital.

"There is a setback in Abu Ammar's health. The doctors are carrying out tests to try to explain why this happened," Leila Shahid said, using Arafat's nom de guerre.

Dahlan Denies

Mohammed Dahlan, a former Palestinian security chief in Paris with a group of Arafat aides, denied that Arafat's condition has worsened. "The president's condition is stable," he told reporters.

He was initially described as having a bad flu, but later diagnosed with having blood abnormalities and digestive abnormalities.

Israel's Channel Two TV reported that the Palestinian leader was moved to an intensive care unit in the French military hospital outside Paris.

The Palestinian envoy to France, Leila Shahid, said Arafat felt well enough to ask about the US presidential election.

Congratulates Bush

An aide later issued a statement in Arafat's name congratulating George Bush on his re-election.

Doctors say they have found no trace of leukaemia or any other cancer. They have been checking for a viral infection.

The president of the Palestinian Authority is being treated at the blood unit of the Percy military hospital in the southwestern Paris suburb of Clamart after being flown from his headquarters in Ramallah last week.

The ailing leader is known to be suffering from a deficiency of blood platelets -- which are needed for clotting -- but doctors are uncertain over what is causing the condition. French doctors have ruled out cancer and leukaemia as well as poisoning.●