Suha Arafat gets $22 million/year from PA

Baldimo wrote:

In the case of a people's leader, they deserve to know how and or why their leader died.

As said: may well be that this is the 100% opinion of all Americans, but [fortunately, I add] not here in Europe.

(Politicans, even leading one's, die here "after a long, severe illness" or "she/he was in hospital recently due to a heart attack, The reason of her/his death is not known".
No-one will complain about that, since we want our privacy to be respected as well.)

Arafat died in France. Thus the French laws re what the doctors are allowed to say.

Btw: the Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureias today asked for a full report on Yasser Arafat's death: there are rumours in the Arabic world that Arafat was poisoned by the Israelis.

I have yet to find a 2nd source stating what is or is not normally stated on a death certificate in France. I would appreciate some verification if cause of death is legally required or not, and whether it is made public when recorded or not.

(1) Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence. (2) There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except as in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health of morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.

French try to quash rumours that Israeli agents killed Arafat
By John Lichfield in Paris
18 November 2004


A French newspaper reported yesterday that Yasser Arafat had died of a complex blood disorder as the government moved to quash rumours spreading through the Middle East that the Palestinian leader had been poisoned by Israeli agents.

While refusing to open Mr Arafat's medical records - protected under French law - a government spokesman, Jean-François Copé, said that if there had been "the slightest doubt" about the causes of death, doctors would have demanded a criminal investigation.

The Palestinian leadership announced yesterday that a delegation would fly to Paris to seek details of the exact cause of Mr Arafat's death as the controversy mounted.

At the same time, the newspaper Le Monde, carried a detailed account, "from very good sources", of the cause of Mr Arafat's death in a military hospital west of Paris last week. Le Monde said Mr Arafat had definitely not died from poisoning, or from the effects of alcoholism or from a virus (such asHIV), all of which have been rumoured in parts of the Arab or Israeli press.

The newspaper said he died from a grave blood disorder called "scattered intravascular coagulation" - a catastrophic breakdown of the normal processes which allow the coagulation of the blood. However, in a patient of Mr Arafat's age, the disorder is normally caused by cancer or by a bacterial or viral infection. No sign of such a cause had been found.

Le Monde said doctors at the Percy hospital - where Mr Arafat was taken, already seriously ill, on 29 October - had found no trace of such a cause. "We worked intensively ... on the possibility that he had been poisoned before finally ruling it out," a French military source told Le Monde. M. Copé said: "Mr Arafat received the best possible care and all possible tests were carried out. If the doctors had had the slightest doubts, they would have called for a criminal investigation."

In response to calls from the Palestinian Authority and French newspapers for Mr Arafat's medical records to be made public, M. Copé said: "French law is very strict. Only members of his family have a right to this information. The government cannot infringe this law, which is rooted in our most fundamental freedoms."

The Palestinian delegation is expected to include Jawad al-Tibi, the Health Minister, as well as justice ministry officials, doctors and Muslim clerics. The office of Ahmad Qureia, the Palestinian Prime Minister, said in a statement: "The conditions surrounding the death of Yasser Arafat raises questions."

Paris set to release Arafat file

France says it is ready to release the medical records of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to his nephew.

French officials have so far denied the files to Palestinian leaders saying only family are entitled to the see them under French privacy laws.

Paris now says Arafat's nephew, Palestinian observer at the UN Nasser al-Kidwa, is considered next of kin.

The cause of Arafat's death last week at a hospital outside Paris has not yet been disclosed.

This has in part fuelled speculation that he may have been poisoned.

French officials have denied the rumour - saying privacy laws prevent them from making the cause of death public.

Mr Kidwa will soon travel to France to make a formal request for the records, Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said on Thursday.

His request to see the files on Arafat is based purely on "his capacity as a relative", Mr Shaath added.

Awkward situation


French Defence Ministry spokesman Jean-Francois Bureau told AFP news agency: "We are expecting to receive this request, and we will respond to it positively."

Correspondent say the release of the files to Mr Kidwa would resolve an awkward diplomatic situation.

It will be up to Arafat's relatives whether they want to make his medical records public.

The Paris daily Le Monde has said doctors believe Arafat died of a blood clotting disorder called disseminated intravascular coagulation.

Arafat died on 11 November of multiple organ failure.

He was flown from Ramallah to Paris' Percy military hospital on 29 October and fell into a coma a few days later.