SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Yasser Arafat (Photo: Pedro Ugarte/AFP/Getty Images)
Are US, France Pressuring Palestinian Authority to Quit Arafat Probe?
Palestinian officials 'flip-flop' over investigation
Jul 12, 2012
A Palestinian investigation into the mysterious death of former leader Yasser Arafat may be facing serious opposition from the US and France behind closed doors, a Palestinian official warned. Media outlets are now reporting on an apparent 'flip-flop' in Palestinian efforts to exhume Arafat's remains for autopsy.
A Palestinian official, who remained anonymous, told Chinese news agency Xinhua that the US and others have pressured Palestinian leadership to put an end to the inquiry because it would compromise the Middle East peace process.
Arafat died in 2004 from an illness that has yet to be explained. Palestinian suspicions have long held that Israel poisoned Arafat. Israel has denied all such charges.
Earlier this week, Palestinian officials announced that Arafat's bones would be exhumed. The decision followed a report by Switzerland's Institute of Radiation Physics that found unexplained and abnormally high levels of polonium-210, a highly radioactive substance, on Arafat's clothes, toothbrush, kaffiyeh, and other personal belongings.
But on Thursday officials with the Palestinian Authority looking into Arafat's death suddenly reversed course. Palestinian Justice Minister Ali Mohanna told a news conference Thursday that a further review of the Swiss lab report will be conducted before a final decision to exhume Arafat's bones is made. No explanation for the U-turn was offered.
# # #
On January 20th, it begins...
Political revenge. Mass deportations. Project 2025. Unfathomable corruption. Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pardons for insurrectionists. An all-out assault on democracy. Republicans in Congress are scrambling to give Trump broad new powers to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit he doesn’t like by declaring it a “terrorist-supporting organization.” Trump has already begun filing lawsuits against news outlets that criticize him. At Common Dreams, we won’t back down, but we must get ready for whatever Trump and his thugs throw at us. Our Year-End campaign is our most important fundraiser of the year. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. By donating today, please help us fight the dangers of a second Trump presidency. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
A Palestinian investigation into the mysterious death of former leader Yasser Arafat may be facing serious opposition from the US and France behind closed doors, a Palestinian official warned. Media outlets are now reporting on an apparent 'flip-flop' in Palestinian efforts to exhume Arafat's remains for autopsy.
A Palestinian official, who remained anonymous, told Chinese news agency Xinhua that the US and others have pressured Palestinian leadership to put an end to the inquiry because it would compromise the Middle East peace process.
Arafat died in 2004 from an illness that has yet to be explained. Palestinian suspicions have long held that Israel poisoned Arafat. Israel has denied all such charges.
Earlier this week, Palestinian officials announced that Arafat's bones would be exhumed. The decision followed a report by Switzerland's Institute of Radiation Physics that found unexplained and abnormally high levels of polonium-210, a highly radioactive substance, on Arafat's clothes, toothbrush, kaffiyeh, and other personal belongings.
But on Thursday officials with the Palestinian Authority looking into Arafat's death suddenly reversed course. Palestinian Justice Minister Ali Mohanna told a news conference Thursday that a further review of the Swiss lab report will be conducted before a final decision to exhume Arafat's bones is made. No explanation for the U-turn was offered.
# # #
A Palestinian investigation into the mysterious death of former leader Yasser Arafat may be facing serious opposition from the US and France behind closed doors, a Palestinian official warned. Media outlets are now reporting on an apparent 'flip-flop' in Palestinian efforts to exhume Arafat's remains for autopsy.
A Palestinian official, who remained anonymous, told Chinese news agency Xinhua that the US and others have pressured Palestinian leadership to put an end to the inquiry because it would compromise the Middle East peace process.
Arafat died in 2004 from an illness that has yet to be explained. Palestinian suspicions have long held that Israel poisoned Arafat. Israel has denied all such charges.
Earlier this week, Palestinian officials announced that Arafat's bones would be exhumed. The decision followed a report by Switzerland's Institute of Radiation Physics that found unexplained and abnormally high levels of polonium-210, a highly radioactive substance, on Arafat's clothes, toothbrush, kaffiyeh, and other personal belongings.
But on Thursday officials with the Palestinian Authority looking into Arafat's death suddenly reversed course. Palestinian Justice Minister Ali Mohanna told a news conference Thursday that a further review of the Swiss lab report will be conducted before a final decision to exhume Arafat's bones is made. No explanation for the U-turn was offered.
# # #
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.