Reuters Palestinian propagandist Wafa Amr is very concerned for the ailing “ex-guerilla” Yasser Arafat: Arafat in Serious Condition, Foreign Medics Arrive.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Foreign doctors rushed to Yasser Arafat’s side on Thursday to tend to the seriously ill Palestinian leader, who for decades has symbolized his people’s struggle for statehood.

A senior aide said Palestinian, Tunisian and Jordanian physicians had recommended Arafat be moved to hospital but a decision would be made only after consultations with an Egyptian medical team that arrived at his West Bank compound toward evening.

The ex-guerrilla, loved by most of his people and reviled by many Israelis, has had stomach pains since last week.

His health took a dramatic turn for the worse on Wednesday and officials said he had been slipping in and out of consciousness, though on Thursday he had also been able to eat, talk and say prayers.

“He is still in a very serious condition and he is calling for his wife,” one official said at Arafat’s battered headquarters in Ramallah, where he has been effectively confined by Israel for the past two years.

His spouse, Suha, planned to return home from France after years apart, officials said.