Palestinians mark ninth anniversary of Yasser Arafat's death
- 11 years ago
STORY: Palestinians in the West Bank marked the ninth anniversary of former president Yasser Arafat's death on Sunday. A memorial service to commemorate the late Palestinian leader was held at a cultural center in Ramallah.
Arafat, a guerrilla leader who became the Palestinians' first president, contracted a sudden and mysterious illness in October 2004.
He was flown to Paris in a French government plane but fell into a coma shortly after his arrival at the Percy military hospital in the suburb of Clamart, where he died on Nov. 11.
The official cause of death was a massive stroke but French doctors said at the time they were unable to determine the origin of his illness. No autopsy was carried out.
A Russian report quoted by Palestinian investigators on Friday said there was insufficient evidence to support the theory that Yasser Arafat died in 2004 by polonium poisoning.
The findings were far weaker than those of a Swiss laboratory announced on Wednesday.
Arafat, a guerrilla leader who became the Palestinians' first president, contracted a sudden and mysterious illness in October 2004.
He was flown to Paris in a French government plane but fell into a coma shortly after his arrival at the Percy military hospital in the suburb of Clamart, where he died on Nov. 11.
The official cause of death was a massive stroke but French doctors said at the time they were unable to determine the origin of his illness. No autopsy was carried out.
A Russian report quoted by Palestinian investigators on Friday said there was insufficient evidence to support the theory that Yasser Arafat died in 2004 by polonium poisoning.
The findings were far weaker than those of a Swiss laboratory announced on Wednesday.