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Abbas supports exhuming Arafat

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat died in a military hospital outside Paris early on Nov. 11, 2004. He was 75 years old. File photo shows Arafat, his hand on a Koran, taking the oath of office as the first elected Palestinian President on Feb. 12, 1996, in Gaza City. (UPI Photo/FILE)

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Published: Sept. 7, 2012 at 1:32 PM

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he supports an investigation into former President Yasser Arafat's death, including exhumation of the body.

A documentary by the Qatari news channel al-Jazeera on Arafat's alleged poisoning in November 2004 sparked new interest in his death, the Egyptian newspaper al-Masry al-Youm reported.

The documentary alleged tests conducted in Switzerland on Arafat's personal belongings found traces of highly toxic radioactive polonium.

After viewing the documentary, Arafat's widow, Suha Arafat, demanded a new investigation into his death.

Abbas said the exhumation of Arafat's body would not violate Islamic law.

Arafat died Nov. 11, 2004, in a suburban Paris hospital. Cause of death never was definitively established.

Topics: Yasser Arafat, Mahmoud Abbas, Masry al-Youm

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