Update As Of 12/7/2013
Just read Wall Street Journal article “Edward Jay Epstein: Arafat's Death and the Polonium Mystery/A twist in the tale seems to debunk the poisoning theory. But even an earlier suspicious finding may have had a less than sinister explanation.” (Subscription only).
A Brief Summary:
Family members (I believe, his wife as well) prohibited an autopsy after Mr. Arafat died, because of lesions of his liver often an indication of cirrhosis, a condition associated with alcohol consumption. Orthodox muslims prohibit alcohol consumption.
Observable symptoms of Polonium 210 poisoning are hair loss (remember hospital pictures of Mr. Alexander Litvinenko?) and skin discoloration. Mr. Arafat is reported to have had neither symptoms.
Theories about possible Polonium 210 contamination of Arafat: Someone used surreptitious listening devices on Arafat powered by Polonium 210. Which intelligence service was involved here: Israel, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Russia, USA ...
The Bible says who lives by the sword will die by the sword. Arafat won the frequently discredited Nobel Peace Prize, but he was a lifelong warmonger, terrorist, and murderer. Perhaps, he was also a KGB agent at some time in his life. Not to mention that he was so ugly.
More Than Eight Years After His Death
Long after Arafat died (in November 2012), did his wife present clothing with alleged Plutonium-210 residues on it. The remains of his body in Ramallah, West Bank were exhumed in 2013 on her request.
The chain of custody therefore is anything but assured. During those eight years since Arafat’s death plenty of accidental or deliberate contamination with toxins could have happened.
Polonium-210
It occurs naturally (e.g. tobacco) and it has a very short period of radioactive decay. The biological half life is just 50 days.
Arafat would be the second prominent victim of this poison in recent years.
His Wife, A Criminal?
It was his wife, Suha Arafat, who is reported to have initiated this new investigation into the circumstances of his death. She has been accused of corruption and embezzlement of large amounts of money from the Palestinian government etc.
Wikipedia reports:
- “During her marriage, she tried to leave Arafat on many occasions, but was not permitted to by her husband. She views her marriage to Arafat as a mistake.”
- “On 31 October 2011, the Tunis Court of First Instance issued an international arrest warrant for Suha, relating to corruption in a business deal that involved the former Tunisian first lady, Leila Ben Ali, in 2006.”
Curiously, Wikipedia does not mention a thing about accusations against Suha about embezzlement etc.
