Trio wait to visit Arafat in French hospital

PARIS - Senior Palestinian officials were last night hoping to see Yasser Arafat in a French hospital after travelling to Paris despite a war of words with the Palestinian President's wife.

Amid the bitter row over Arafat's fate, Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie, Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath and Palestine Liberation Organisation Secretary-General Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Paris yesterday.

They were due to discuss the 75-year-old leader's condition with French President Jacques Chirac and Foreign Minister Michel Barnier.

It was not clear if the three leaders, all seen as potential successors, would see the critically ill Arafat, whose his wife, Suha, has accused them of plotting to "bury him alive".

"We had unanimous support from the Cabinet that we should proceed as quickly as possible and come back with factual information that will satisfy the people and end this senseless and really inhuman battle of rumours," Shaath said before leaving for Paris.

But Christian Estripeau, the chief doctor treating Arafat in the French military hospital, said access to Arafat was now strictly limited.

"Mr Arafat's medical condition forces us to limit visits," Estripeau said, although he added the leader's condition was stable.

Despite the bickering, United States Secretary of State Colin Powell said he was impressed by the Palestinian leaders' handling of Arafat's absence and hoped the recent "relative calm" in the region would continue.

"Since he went to the hospital in Paris I have been impressed by the manner in which the Palestinian leaders back in the territories have been discussing among themselves how to move forward," he said.

"I hope that sense of quiet and calm can be maintained and [that] it gives us something to work with."

Paris doctors have not diagnosed Arafat's illness although they have ruled out leukaemia. One Palestinian official said he had liver failure.

Israeli media reported that Arafat would be taken off life-support equipment after the Palestinian leaders had visited him in the hospital's intensive care unit. This was not confirmed by French doctors or by Palestinian officials.

The leaders' trip to Paris seemed to have been delayed after Arafat's wife accused them of being desperate to succeed the man who embodies the struggle for a Palestinian state and against Israeli occupation.

"I appeal to you to be aware of the scope of the conspiracy," Suha Arafat shouted during an appearance on the Arabic al-Jazeera satellite television.

- REUTERS