Yasser Arafat died in 2004 at age 75. According to some sources, he had been in reasonably good health, when he abruptly took a turn for the worse and died.
Rumors circulated that Arafat had met with foul play. Suspicion quickly fell upon Israel, perhaps due to certain government sources who mouthed off that it would be better if Arafat were dead. Israel, to the absolute astonishment of no one on Earth, officially denied any involvement in Arafat's death. Other rumors were circulated that Arafat had died of embarrassing causes, such as AIDS.
Now a recent investigation has suggested that Arafat was murdered. An analysis of some of Arafat's personal items has shown unusually high levels of polonium-210, which is radioactive. Polonium-210 has been used as a poison, but does not show up in tests as a conventional chemical poison.
Story here.
The medical records surrounding Arafat's health are sketchy, some have been kept private and some show an illness inconsistent with polonium poisoning. One of the symptoms of radiation exposure is hair loss, and though Arafat was bald, he kept his signature beard until the end. Also, his marrow tests were inconsistent with radiation exposure.
Still, the finding of a radioactive substance is suspicious as hell, and there may be one way to shed light on the issue: exhume Arafat and root around in his corpse for polonium atoms, and see whether there was enough there to cause him harm.
Exhumation seems to be a reasonable possibility. According to the
National Post and Thomson Reuters, the Palestinian Authority has agreed to exhumation. "'The Authority, as it always has been, is ready to completely cooperate with and clear the way for an investigation into the true causes leading to the martyrdom of the late president,' said Nabil Abu Rdeineh, spokesman for [President Mahmoud] Abbas." So it looks like the Authority is keeping an open mind.
The question one may be wondering is: under what scenario can this sequence of events end well or lead to a peaceful resolution?
