Military

DATE=11/9/2004

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ARAFAT / HEALTH (L)

NUMBER=2-320288

BYLINE=SONJA PACE

DATELINE=JERUSALEM

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

HEADLINE: Arafat Slips Deeper Into Coma

INTRO: Yasser Arafat's condition has worsened in a Paris hospital. Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Sha'ath says Mr. Arafat is very ill and has slipped deeper into a coma. VOA's Sonja Pace has this report from Jerusalem.

TEXT: Palestinians throughout the West Bank and Gaza have been waiting anxiously for word on Yasser Arafat's condition.

Senior Palestinian leaders, including Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, and Foreign Minister Nabil Sha'ath traveled to Paris to see Mr. Arafat and talk to his doctors. At a news conference, Mr. Sha'ath said that Mr. Arafat is very ill.

/// SHA'ATH ACT ///

"His situation has deteriorated especially last night. But since last Wednesday he has been in a coma. That coma has deepened last night."

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Sha'ath said the Palestinian leader is still alive and his vital organs are still functioning. He ruled out removing him from life support.

The Palestinian leader fell ill more than two-weeks ago. He was flown to a French military hospital outside of Paris for treatment. At first the word was that his condition was improving, but he soon took a turn for the worse.

His condition has yet to be diagnosed, but there has been no shortage of rumors and theories about the cause of his illness.

Foreign Minister Sha'ath ruled out cancer and poisoning. He said doctors indicated his illness was brought on by a number of factors, including his age and the conditions he has lived under for the past three years.

/// SHA'ATH ACT 2 ///

"The doctors, by and large, favor the explanation that his age, 75 years old, a very difficult life, the last three-and-a-half years incarcerated in a very small office which had very little oxygen and which had a very bad sanitary situation and siege by the Israeli army have contributed to a variety of digestive track ailments."

/// END ACT ///

The Foreign Minister would not discuss any burial plans should Mr. Arafat succumb to this illness. But, officials in the West Bank city of Ramallah said they would seek to bury him at his Muqata headquarters there.

Earlier, an emotional Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat made this announcement in Ramallah about plans to receive Yasser Arafat when the time comes.

/// EREKAT ACT ///

"We, we.. We believe in God. In case the worst will happen all arrangements will take place here in Ramallah at the Muqata. The Muqata became the symbol of the tragedy of the Palestinian people. The president, the compound of the president is a place of peace of the past three years."

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Arafat had said he wants to be buried in Jerusalem's Old City, something the Israeli government has ruled out. Israeli officials have also said they would not allow him to be buried in the West Bank village of Abu Dis, which is adjacent to Jerusalem. One Israeli official is quoted as saying Ramallah had not yet been brought up as a burial site. (SIGNED)

NEB/SP/RH/RAE