Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04JERUSALEM4203
2004-11-04 10:22:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Consulate Jerusalem
Cable title:  

PALESTINIAN LEADERSHIP WORRIED AS ARAFAT'S

Tags:  PREL KWBG PGOV KPAL IS 
pdf how-to read a cable
O 041022Z NOV 04
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1433
INFO ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
WHITE HOUSE NSC IMMEDIATE
C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 004203 


NEA FOR BURNS/SATTERFIELD, NSC FOR ABRAMS/DANIN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/04/2014
TAGS: PREL KWBG PGOV KPAL IS
SUBJECT: PALESTINIAN LEADERSHIP WORRIED AS ARAFAT'S
CONDITION WORSENS

Classified By: Consul General David D. Pearce. Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 004203


NEA FOR BURNS/SATTERFIELD, NSC FOR ABRAMS/DANIN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/04/2014
TAGS: PREL KWBG PGOV KPAL IS
SUBJECT: PALESTINIAN LEADERSHIP WORRIED AS ARAFAT'S
CONDITION WORSENS

Classified By: Consul General David D. Pearce. Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasir
Arafat's health deteriorated suddenly the evening of November
3, according to ConGen sources in Ramallah, who said his
doctors in Paris had moved him to an intensive care unit
after he began vomiting and experiencing fatigue and fever.
Negotiations Affairs Minister Sa'eb Erekat told DPO November
4 that his condition had stabilized overnight, and that his
medical team would make an announcement regarding his health
later in the day. Prime Minister Abu Ala'a's chief of staff,
Hasan Abu Libdah, told the Consul General that Arafat's
condition was serious and that information regarding his
health was being closely held. The leadership of the PLO and
Fatah are planning to meet November 4 to discuss the
situation. End summary.

Sudden Setback
--------------


2. (C) Arafat's health deteriorated suddenly November 3.
According to a source in the Muqatta'a who had been in
contact with Arafat's entourage in Paris, Arafat suddenly
began vomiting and developed a fever and increased fatigue,
alarming his doctors, who moved him to an intensive care unit
(ICU). National Security Adviser Jibril Rajub told DPO
November 3 that he had spoken to Arafat's wife, Suha, and PLO
UN rep Nasser al-Kidwah, who told him Arafat's condition was
stable. Local Palestinian media reported November 4 that PLO
rep to Paris Leyla Shahid confirmed that Arafat's condition
had worsened and that he had been placed in the ICU. She
said his medical team would make an announcement regarding
the Chairman's health November 4 in the afternoon (Note:
There was to have been an announcement November 3, but it
never took place. Note.)

Alarm Bells Go Off
--------------


3. (C) Arafat's worsening condition fueled speculation among
some PA officials that he was about to die, perhaps of
poisoning. Sa'eb Erekat, repeating information he had
already passed directly in Washington, told DPO at around 1
am November 4 that the PLO's representative to the UN, Nasser
al-Kidwah, had phoned him urgently from Paris saying that
Arafat had been poisoned by the GOI and insisting that Erekat
enlist Washington's support for obtaining the antidote from
the GOI (Comment: Al-Kidwah evidently phoned Erekat with
this alarming report before Arafat's condition improved. End
comment). Rajub called DPO at 2:30 am to report that
Arafat's condition was stable and that press reports of a
deterioration in Arafat's health had been sourced back to a
Fatah Central Committee member who had leaked the earlier,
dire reports to Reuters.


4. (C) In a subsequent conversation with DPO on November 4,
Erekat said that he had spoken to Arafat's doctors, who
informed him that the Chairman's condition had stabilized and
he had stopped vomiting, that he remained in the ICU, and
that his vomiting attack was similar to those he had suffered
in Ramallah. Erekat assessed Arafat's health at "50 - 50."
Prime Minister Abu Ala'a's chief of staff, Hasan Abu Libdah,
told the Consul General November 4 that Arafat's condition
was serious, and that there was "some panic" among the
leadership. He said that information regarding Arafat's
health was being closely held, and that Abu Ala'a was very
worried and would be participating in meetings of the
leadership later in the day to discuss the situation.


5. (C) A source in ex-PM Abu Mazen's office said Abu Mazen
would chair a meeting of the PLO Executive Committee and the
Fatah Central Committee November 4. (Note: As secretary
general of the PLO, Abu Mazen is next in line after Arafat;
he is also the ranking member of Fatah, in the absence of
Tunis-based Faruq al-Qaddumi. Abu Mazen reportedly canceled
plans to fly from the UAE, where he attended Shaykh Zayyid's
funeral, to Paris, after receiving news that Arafat's
condition had stabilized. End note.)

Comment
--------------


6. (C) The sudden deterioration in Arafat's health November 3
has alarmed Palestinian officialdom in Ramallah, some of whom
had been optimistically predicting his recovery and eventual
return in time for the end-of-Ramadan feast in mid-November.
In his conversation with the CG this morning, PM Abu Ala'a's
chief of staff Abu Libdah, who is not prone to exaggeration
or melodrama, sounded very concerned about Arafat's
prognosis, implying that the leadership in meetings today
might be planning for his succession. The continuing lack of
information about the cause of Arafat's illness, coupled with
reports of his continuing vomiting and fever attacks, has
fueled wild speculation that he may have been poisoned by
Israel, raising tensions among his staff in the Muqatta'a,
who would naturally fall under suspicion.

PEARCE