 The Palestinian Authority Sunday denied reports Yasser Arafat has cancer and will be treated for the illness abroad, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Sources close to Arafat insisted he is only suffering from the flu, characterized by symptoms of weakness and vomiting. Amid growing concerns for the 75-year-old chairman's health, Arafat was reportedly examined Saturday by a team of Tunisian doctors, who found he was inflicted with gallstones and peritonitis sepsis an intestinal infection, the Post Reported.
| I don't think I'm a cruel man by nature, but I like the idea of Yasser curled up with the agony of gallstones... |
| Perhaps some nice spikey kidney stones instead? |
| Nah, let him go into labor. He's a man, he'll never last ... |
| Maybe it's one of those cases of Russian flu, the kind Politbureau members used to catch. Normally fatal, they lingered till a replacement was appointed. |
Arafat had been reported ill with a severe case of the flu for more than a week, but the dramatic request to Israel to grant permission for an examination by the Tunisian specialists heightened speculation about the severity of his illness. During the past few days Arafat had cut short a number of meetings after complaining of exhaustion, shivering and general weakness. The decision to summon the specialists came shortly after Arafat was unable to complete Friday prayers at a small mosque inside his compound. A top Fatah leader dismissed reports that Arafat was seriously ill as "Israeli propaganda." But some officials in Arafat's compound told the Jerusalem Post the chairman needs to be institutionalized hospitalized as soon as possible. |