The buffoonish circus taking place around Yasser Arafat may be nearing an end: Palestinian Sources Say Arafat Dead, Others Deny.

PARIS (Reuters) - Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat suffered a brain hemorrhage on Tuesday and aides said he had died at a hospital in Paris, but confusion over his fate grew as officials insisted in public he was still clinging to life.

Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath, in a strenuous denial, said the Palestinian president, 75, was “very much alive,” but at least five senior sources said he had succumbed to the mystery illness that led to his being flown to Paris on Oct. 29.

A top aide said Arafat, who lapsed into coma last week, had suffered a brain hemorrhage. Palestinian sources said leaders were waiting for a senior Muslim cleric to arrive on Wednesday to give the go-ahead for disconnecting life-support machines.

“He is dead,” one Palestinian source said. “He died after bleeding in the brain began last night. His bodyguards started hugging and kissing and telling each other to be strong.”

Eeeewwww!