Update on Arafat 'Poisoning' Claim: Swiss Lab Says 'Not Conclusive'

Update on Arafat ‘Poisoning’ Claim: Swiss Lab Says ‘Not Conclusive’

Skepticism warranted

Middle EastJuly 2012 • Views: 38,592

CNN has an update on that story reported by Al Jazeera yesterday, and it looks like Al Jazeera left out some important information — such as the fact that the director of the laboratory says their tests are “not conclusive.”

The tests found unusually high levels of polonium-210, one of the scientists involved in the study said.

The results do not mean that Arafat suffered radiation poisoning, François Bochud told CNN. Some details in Arafat’s medical records are not consistent with polonium poisoning, he explained.

“We have evidence there is too much polonium, but we also have hints from the medical records that this may not be the case. The only way to resolve this anomaly would be by testing the body,” said Bochud, director of the Institut de Radiophysique in Lausanne, Switzerland. …

Bochud’s research team tested Arafat’s toothbrush, clothing and keffiyeh, the trademark black-and-white scarf he always wore, Bochud said. …

It should be possible to measure any remaining polonium — a naturally radioactive chemical element — in Arafat’s body despite the length of time since his death because he was buried in a tomb, not underground, Bochud said. …

There was no evidence of traditional poison, Bochud said. Al Jazeera and the family then asked him to test for radioactive material, he said.

They found an “unexplained amount of polonium-210,” he said, cautioning: “We are testing tiny quantities so it is difficult to measure and not conclusive.”

A stain from body fluid included 180 megabecquerels of the substance per liter, while a typical sample would contain 5 megabecquerels, Bochud said. The fabric of his clothing itself, without body fluid, contained less than 10 megabecquerels, Bochud said. (A becquerel is a measurement of radioactive intensity by weight.)

Several tests involving biological samples — such as urine, sweat or blood — contained higher levels than other samples in the same bag, he said.

Arafat’s clothes were inside a sports bag, which his widow said she had left them in since they were returned from the hospital eight years ago, Bochud said.

It was not immediately clear whether anything that happened to the clothes — over the years or in the testing process — may have affected the result of the tests.

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58 comments

Summer Lovin' Torture Party Wed, Jul 4, 2012 1:24:44pm

Arafat being poisoned means he got the easy way out. I can't say that for the countless victims of his actions.

Killgore Trout Wed, Jul 4, 2012 1:29:03pm

I still think the statement about the DNA matches is open to interpretation. I also think this may be a bigger deal than the article lets on...

Several tests involving biological samples — such as urine, sweat or blood — contained higher levels than other samples in the same bag, he said.

I would guess that the polonium levels in a poisoning case would be relatively consistent. However, applying trace amounts of polonium evenly by hand might be more difficult.

Charles Johnson Wed, Jul 4, 2012 1:34:05pm

re: #2 Killgore Trout

I think it would be extremely difficult to plant amounts this tiny, in such a way that it wouldn't be obvious to a good laboratory.

Killgore Trout Wed, Jul 4, 2012 1:34:13pm

CNN is doing a lot of editing on that article. When I first posted it ...

Bochud also said the Institut de Radiophysique did not verify that the clothing was Arafat's. Another organization said the DNA on the items matched that of Arafat's daughter, Bochud said

Has now been changed to...

Bochud also said the Institut de Radiophysique did not verify that the clothing was Arafat's; another organization concluded that the DNA on the items was similar to that of Arafat's daughter.

Charles Johnson Wed, Jul 4, 2012 1:34:40pm

re: #4 Killgore Trout

Yep, that's what I thought. They clarified it.

Charles Johnson Wed, Jul 4, 2012 1:36:09pm

re: #4 Killgore Trout

The article said his daughter had provided DNA for testing and waited months for the results. Obviously, it was to see if the markers were similar enough to say it was Arafat's DNA on the clothes.

Killgore Trout Wed, Jul 4, 2012 1:37:13pm

re: #3 Charles Johnson

I think it would be extremely difficult to plant amounts this tiny, in such a way that it wouldn't be obvious to a good laboratory.

I think that's what he might be saying. He made a point of saying the polonium levels of samples in the same bag varied so it might be a significant point. CNN failed to report (or ask) if this is unusual or not.

Killgore Trout Wed, Jul 4, 2012 1:38:41pm

re: #5 Charles Johnson

Yep, that's what I thought. They clarified it.

I guess it's a holiday so the B team of editors is struggling to get it right while everyone else has the day off.

b_sharp Wed, Jul 4, 2012 1:40:25pm

News today consists of posting first, then correcting errors later, but only if they're pointed out, repeatedly.

Charles Johnson Wed, Jul 4, 2012 1:41:10pm

After AJE's miserable, unprofessional Arafat poisoning speculation based on inconclusive data, conspiracy theories running wild as intended.
— Hussein Ibish (@Ibishblog) July 4, 2012

Charles Johnson Wed, Jul 4, 2012 1:43:07pm

For the last time: when a sick, old 75-year-old man living in squalid conditions after extremely hard life finally passes away, no mystery.
— Hussein Ibish (@Ibishblog) July 4, 2012

The Left Wed, Jul 4, 2012 1:43:44pm

Higgs-Boston particle: "I'm wicked hahd to find".

Stolen from twitter

Charles Johnson Wed, Jul 4, 2012 1:44:12pm

Wow, Hussein Ibish is really calling out Al Jazeera. Good for him.

I feel really sorry for all the good, professional people I know over at AJE. I have no doubt they are profoundly embarrassed & humiliated.
— Hussein Ibish (@Ibishblog) July 4, 2012

engineer cat Wed, Jul 4, 2012 2:00:32pm

uncountable romans
had already parsed and conjugated
innumerable dreams of order and justice
lost to the wandering hearts of men
and the cruelty of the craters of the moon
before we ever thought
to try our childishly hopeful project
which clearly can never have lasted
as long as it has

that's my annual reading of my independence day poem

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE, FREEDOM, AND DEMOCRACY DAY!

Gus Wed, Jul 4, 2012 2:01:08pm

All of which confirms my initial suspicions.

Varek Raith Wed, Jul 4, 2012 2:02:41pm

re: #15 Gus

All of which confirms my initial suspicions.

*Whistles innocently*

Killgore Trout Wed, Jul 4, 2012 2:04:51pm

re: #15 Gus

All of which confirms my initial suspicions.

If they do dig him up they're probably going to "find" polonium anyways. His legacy ain't shit in Palestinian culture as a politician dying of old age. He has to be a martyr.

Gus Wed, Jul 4, 2012 2:06:27pm

re: #17 Killgore Trout

If they do dig him up they're probably going to "find" polonium anyways. His legacy ain't shit in Palestinian culture as a politician dying of old age. He has to be a martyr.

They'd have to fudge some numbers to deal with the half-life qualities of polonium. Would be interesting to see -- that is if they choose to make fools of themselves.

Killgore Trout Wed, Jul 4, 2012 2:06:59pm

I found another edit....

Several tests involving biological samples -- such as urine, sweat or blood -- contained higher levels than other samples in the same bag, he said.

has been changed to...

Tests involving biological samples -- such as urine, sweat or blood -- contained higher levels than other samples taken from his clothing, he said.

Killgore Trout Wed, Jul 4, 2012 2:08:09pm

Some poor junior editor at CNN is really shitting pickles today.

Varek Raith Wed, Jul 4, 2012 2:09:20pm

re: #20 Killgore Trout

Some poor junior editor at CNN is really shitting pickles today.

Pickles???
Surely you meant bricks.
:P

Gus Wed, Jul 4, 2012 2:09:25pm

re: #20 Killgore Trout

Some poor junior editor at CNN is really shitting pickles today.

Kind of reminds me of the cow/cyanide re-writes at CBS News.

Varek Raith Wed, Jul 4, 2012 2:09:46pm

re: #22 Gus

Kind of reminds me of the cow/cyanide re-writes at CBS News.

GMFOODSISGONNAKILLYOU

Varek Raith Wed, Jul 4, 2012 2:11:00pm

How about them Sun Portals???

Charles Johnson Wed, Jul 4, 2012 2:11:13pm

re: #18 Gus

They'd have to fudge some numbers to deal with the half-life qualities of polonium. Would be interesting to see -- that is if they choose to make fools of themselves.

That's why I say it would be very difficult to plant polonium in these extremely tiny amounts, with the right amount of radioactive decay so that it wouldn't be immediately obvious to a good lab. And if it was planted, it was done in such a way that it only showed up in the biological material, not the clothes.

This is an interesting statement:

A stain from body fluid included 180 megabecquerels of the substance per liter, while a typical sample would contain 5 megabecquerels, Bochud said. The fabric of his clothing itself, without body fluid, contained less than 10 megabecquerels, Bochud said.

However this turns out, it does look like the Institut de Radiophysique discovered an unusual amount of polonium. The story's not totally bogus, but Al Jazeera distorted it.

Gus Wed, Jul 4, 2012 2:16:32pm

re: #25 Charles Johnson

That's why I say it would be very difficult to plant polonium in these extremely tiny amounts, with the right amount of radioactive decay so that it wouldn't be immediately obvious to a good lab. And if it was planted, it was done in such a way that it only showed up in the biological material, not the clothes.

This is an interesting statement:

However this turns out, it does look like the Institut de Radiophysique discovered an unusual amount of polonium. The story's not totally bogus, but Al Jazeera distorted it.

All we can do now is wait and listen to the Institut de Radiophysique and not Al Jazeera. The trap here of course is that we end up with conspiracy theories to counter conspiracy theories.

researchok Wed, Jul 4, 2012 2:17:18pm

re: #18 Gus

Never underestimate the pulling power of stupid.

wrenchwench Wed, Jul 4, 2012 2:19:45pm

re: #26 Gus

All we can do now is wait and listen to the Institut de Radiophysique and not Al Jazeera. The trap here of course is that we end up with conspiracy theories to counter conspiracy theories.

"Never trust a French lab."

--L. Armstrong

Gus Wed, Jul 4, 2012 2:23:44pm

Like clockwork. Now these recent revelations are springing up the notion of a sort of "coordinated PR attack by Israel" and its surrogates.

neilk Wed, Jul 4, 2012 2:24:52pm

Of course the results weren't conclusive; how could they definitively establish a cause of death by examining someone's personal effects 8 years after they died? The only way to reach a conclusion is to study the body.

Interestingly, the only people claiming they can say anything conclusively are those who say he was an old man and he's dead and that's normal. I find it exceedingly strange that anyone wouldn't admit that it's news that lethal doses of poison were found on the stains of his bodily fluids. Not conclusive, but noteworthy, at least? No?

neilk Wed, Jul 4, 2012 2:27:52pm

I'm also curious whether Palestinians would really blame Israel, since they presumably know better than anyone that Hamas had no love for Arafat. Ties to Russia, as well.

Gus Wed, Jul 4, 2012 2:30:20pm

Reports are coming in that the PA has agreed to exhume the body.

researchok Wed, Jul 4, 2012 2:31:00pm

re: #29 Gus

Like clockwork. Now these recent revelations are springing up the notion of a sort of "coordinated PR attack by Israel" and its surrogates.

The pot is brought to a boil, steam goes everywhere as water boils over until reality finally turns off the heat.

In the end, the pot goes cold

Achilles Tang Wed, Jul 4, 2012 2:45:34pm

Of course one possibility is that Arafat, being the father of modern terrorism, was himself dabbling with radioactive materials.

CuriousLurker Wed, Jul 4, 2012 2:49:47pm

re: #10 Charles Johnson

Hussein Ibish
@Ibishblog

After AJE's miserable, unprofessional Arafat poisoning speculation based on inconclusive data, conspiracy theories running wild as intended.

My question: "Why now?" I suspect something is afoot, and I doubt it has anything to do with concern over how Arafat died.

Al Jazeera says their investigation took 9 months. When did it begin? Just because they're publishing now doesn't mean that the 9 months were immediately prior to July 2012, likewise it doesn't mean they were not. Did the investigation begin in November 2011, or earlier? If earlier, how much earlier? What was going on around that time? Whose idea was it? Who approved it?

The final report from the Institute of Radiophysics in Switzerland is dated May 5, 2012. How long did it take from start to finish? Who, specifically, ordered & paid for it and why? (I haven't gone through all the stuff over at AL Jazeera yet, so perhaps some of these questions are answered there.)

Is this just a way for Al Jazeera to get attention? Maybe. It is just another way to smear Israel? Maybe, but what need for that? It's not as if there aren't 100 conspiracy theories involving Israel on any given day, and I'm sure more than one person has probably floated the idea that the Israelis assassinated Arafat since the moment he took ill.

This smells like a distraction tactic, a way to stir up emotions and, as Mr. Ibish pointed out, weave more/bigger conspiracy theories. If this is a distraction tactic, then what is the strategy behind it?

Maybe I'm being too suspicious and inventing as conspiracy of my own. Maybe not. I guess we'll have to see where the fallout from this leads...

Killgore Trout Wed, Jul 4, 2012 2:57:19pm

re: #35 CuriousLurker

My question: "Why now?" I suspect something is afoot, and I doubt it has anything to do with concern over how Arafat died.

Al Jazeera says their investigation took 9 months. When did it begin? Just because they're publishing now doesn't mean that the 9 months were immediately prior to July 2012, likewise it doesn't mean they were not. Did the investigation begin in November 2011, or earlier? If earlier, how much earlier? What was going on around that time? Whose idea was it? Who approved it?

The final report from the Institute of Radiophysics in Switzerland is dated May 5, 2012. How long did it take from start to finish? Who, specifically, ordered & paid for it and why? (I haven't gone through all the stuff over at AL Jazeera yet, so perhaps some of these questions are answered there.)

Is this just a way for Al Jazeera to get attention? Maybe. It is just another way to smear Israel? Maybe, but what need for that? It's not as if there aren't 100 conspiracy theories involving Israel on any given day, and I'm sure more than one person has probably floated the idea that the Israelis assassinated Arafat since the moment he took ill.

This smells like a distraction tactic, a way to stir up emotions and, as Mr. Ibish pointed out, weave more/bigger conspiracy theories. If this is a distraction tactic, then what is the strategy behind it?

Maybe I'm being too suspicious and inventing as conspiracy of my own. Maybe not. I guess we'll have to see where the fallout from this leads...

About 9 months ago when the investigation started Arafats wife was being charged with financial corruption in Tunisia. She claimed it was a conspiracy to defame her husband's legacy.

researchok Wed, Jul 4, 2012 3:00:32pm

re: #35 CuriousLurker

The Arab Spring really has distracted a lot of people. Israel is no longer the focus of lot of obsession. That is now (rightfully) reserved for many oppressive regimes. They can't be happy about that.

This might be an attempt to refocus that attention outward, toward Israel and thus give some of these regimes some breathing room, so to speak.

Certainly Syria would not mind attention focused away from their murderous ways- at least 16,500 killed and counting.

Our world.

neilk Wed, Jul 4, 2012 3:11:42pm

If CERN were run by Palestians: "They said they're only confident of their results up to five sigma. They're admitting doubt, so why is this a story?" "I question the timing. What was their political motivation to announce the discovery of the Higgs boson today?"

CuriousLurker Wed, Jul 4, 2012 3:12:30pm

re: #36 Killgore Trout

About 9 months ago when the investigation started Arafats wife was being charged with financial corruption in Tunisia. She claimed it was a conspiracy to defame her husband's legacy.

Hmm, interesting, but I don't think AJ would stick it's neck out just for one woman's vanity. That may be a part of it, but there's got to be more to it than, IMO...not enough meat on that bone to make it worth it, unless details her corruption lead to something much bigger.

re: #37 researchok

The Arab Spring really has distracted a lot of people. Israel is no longer the focus of lot of obsession. That is now n(rightfully) reserved for many oppressive regimes. They can't be happy about that.

A reaction to, or rather a perceived opportunity, WRT the Arab Spring was the first thing that came to mind, given the time frame. Maybe a way to reclaim Palestinian leadership...but then blaming the Israelis alone wouldn't really work.

Now if you got really creative and could knock out one of the other Palestinian factions by putting them in collusion with Israel, then THAT would cause some massive upheaval.

Obviously, just speculation on my part, but Occam's razor says the simplest hypothesis that makes the fewest assumptions is most likely, so...who benefits?

CuriousLurker Wed, Jul 4, 2012 3:16:19pm

re: #38 neilk

If CERN were run by Palestians: "They said they're only confident of their results up to five sigma. They're admitting doubt, so why is this a story?" "I question the timing. What was their political motivation to announce the discovery of the Higgs boson today?"

It's not just the Palestinian leaders. There are lots of players with chips in this game—Syria, Iran, etc.

sagehen Wed, Jul 4, 2012 3:36:56pm

In all countries I know, more of their citizens have come to live in America than Americans have left to live in theirs.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) July 4, 2012

CuriousLurker Wed, Jul 4, 2012 4:15:10pm

re: #34 Achilles Tang

Of course one possibility is that Arafat, being the father of modern terrorism, was himself dabbling with radioactive materials.

Maybe, but given his age & status, I just don't see him handling something like that directly. He was old, rich, and comfortable—why risk it when you have underlings who can do it for you?

Buck Wed, Jul 4, 2012 4:16:49pm

If you were going to investigate the cause of death of someone who spent the last weeks of his life in a hospital you wouldn't start with his toothbrush.

You would start with the hospital documents and death certificate. Neither of which seem to be part of this investigation. Despite this Lab person saying that: "Some details in Arafat’s medical records are not consistent with polonium poisoning". Right....

The French hospital said they knew why he died, but were not able to release the information due to confidentiality.

Any real investigation would start with ALL of the hospital reports.

Seriously, why would you start an investigation into a persons death with his toothbrush, and not the death certificate, hospital records and the Doctors who treated him?

Note the story says the widow is cooperating with the investigation. She could hand over the documents.

Polonium 210 has a half life of 138.4 days. I doubt very sincerely there would be enough of that left to get a good sample on by any laboratory eight years later, unless it was added much later.

So if they find any on anything, it was dosed after his death. "“We have evidence there is too much polonium" that is what happens when you take the amount they do see and calculate backwards on how much there must have 8 years ago.

So why not investigate properly?

Ahmad Jibril, secretary general of the PFLP General Command, said in an interview on Al Manar TV that he was told by someone who saw the medical report that the cause of Arafat's death was AIDS. Need a link for that?

researchok Wed, Jul 4, 2012 4:25:01pm

re: #39 CuriousLurker

Obviously, just speculation on my part, but Occam's razor says the simplest hypothesis that makes the fewest assumptions is most likely, so...who benefits?

Hamas. They were the big winners. Arafat was an icon- wuith him out of the way, Palestinians (many of hom hated Arafat) could vote for Hamas with a clear conscience.

Israel really didn't need to kill Arafat- they could have done so for years and had that been timed following a particularly heinous terror attack, no one really would have blamed them.

The Israelis had him isolated and toothless.

Also, there was supposedly a deal cut between the Israelis and the Palestinians. They would refrain from targeting each others bigwigs.

The only thing I know is in the Middle East is nothing is what it appears to be.

CuriousLurker Wed, Jul 4, 2012 4:50:12pm

re: #44 researchok

The only thing I know is in the Middle East is nothing is what it appears to be.

I'll say. These are the folks that brought you the 1001 Nights with stories nested inside stories, nested inside stories, and the nothing is ever what it seems. They know how to weave a yarn, heh.

Buck Wed, Jul 4, 2012 5:03:51pm

re: #30 neilk

I find it exceedingly strange that anyone wouldn't admit that it's news that lethal doses of poison were found on the stains of his bodily fluids. Not conclusive, but noteworthy, at least? No?

No. IF there is anything found in the stains of his bodily fluid, it was planted much after his death.

When he died, half the UN would have loved to find anything that might point to foul play. Fatah was still in control and it would have been pure gold to have a case that he was poisoned.

"When Abu Mazen came to Damascus with his team, I asked them: 'What happened to the investigation into the death of Abu Ammar [Arafat]? The Israelis killed him. He was my colleague ever since 1965 and used to sleep at my home. He and I followed the same path. Is it conceivable that when Rafiq Al-Hariri was killed, all hell broke loose, even though he was just a merchant in Saudi Arabia, who later entered politics, whereas the death of Yasser Arafat, who for 40 years had been carrying his gun from one place to another, is not investigated? Is this conceivable?'"

But Abbas' men, after a moment of hesitation, told Jibril that his assumptions about the cause of Arafat's death were incorrect. "They were silent, and then one of them said to me: 'To be honest, the French gave us the medical report that stated that the cause of Abu Ammar's death was AIDS.' I am not saying this, they did. Now they pretend that they miss Yasser Arafat, and complain that [Hamas] entered his house in [Gaza] and so on... I say to every honorable member of the Fatah movement that he should be happy that we got rid of the plague, which had been imposed upon them and upon the Palestinian people. The Fatah movement now has an opportunity to renew itself."

[Link: littlegreenfootballs.com...]

How is it we are even debating any other possibility?

Pythagoras Wed, Jul 4, 2012 10:33:25pm

re: #3 Charles Johnson

I think it would be extremely difficult to plant amounts this tiny, in such a way that it wouldn't be obvious to a good laboratory.

Yes. Because Po-210 decays to Pb-206 (lead) which is stable, but not a normal isotope of lead, the lab should have a very easy time detecting a fake.

They shouldn't look for Po-210 at all. A lot of Pb-206 would be the marker.

Since that hasn't been mentioned in the news stories, I'm totally skeptical of the whole thing.

And one final point of agreement with Charles — getting a bunch of Pb-206 so as to fake the test is virtually impossible.

MonkeyOne Thu, Jul 5, 2012 1:44:03am

Al Jazeera have published the report from the Institute of Radiation Physics here. Arafat is given the code-name "Etienne Louvet".

From my brief reading, it appears to be very high quality.

One thing that struck me was the presence of high Po levels in a toothbrush control (Table 2 pg 8). While the concentration isn't as high as what was found in Arafat's fluids, it is still significantly above background levels. Apparently Po isn't even distributed throughout the environment.

MonkeyOne Thu, Jul 5, 2012 5:29:14am

I'm far from an expert, but I have one idea about how the Po results could come about naturally.

Po-210 can be formed from the decay of naturally occurring lead Pb-210 (this is used as a marker in some radioactivity dating techniques). If Arafat was previously exposed to a significant concentration of Pb-210 (and I have absolutely no idea about the probability of this). It will gradually decay into Po-210, providing Arafat's body with a higher than background level.

According to the Report, the scientists at the Institute of Radiation Physics are aware about this and have developed a technique to test for it. Basically the samples have been run through a ionic exchange column to remove the Po-210. If there is Pb-210 present, it will gradually decay into Po-210, causing the samples to become recontaminated with Po-210. The problem is that this experiment takes time and we will have to wait.

MonkeyOne Thu, Jul 5, 2012 5:38:02am

re: #43 Buck

You would start with the hospital documents and death certificate. Neither of which seem to be part of this investigation. Despite this Lab person saying that: "Some details in Arafat’s medical records are not consistent with polonium poisoning". Right...

The French hospital said they knew why he died, but were not able to release the information due to confidentiality.

Any real investigation would start with ALL of the hospital reports.

Al Jazeera have the hospital reports and have released them. Most of them are in French and Arabic, but the English ones are fascinating.

Polonium 210 has a half life of 138.4 days. I doubt very sincerely there would be enough of that left to get a good sample on by any laboratory eight years later, unless it was added much later.

Is this an educated or uneducated guess? I did some rough calculations (so rough that I wouldn't place a great deal of faith in them) that suggests that the urine sample would have had in order of micrograms of Po at the time of Arafat's death.

Ahmad Jibril, secretary general of the PFLP General Command, said in an interview on Al Manar TV that he was told by someone who saw the medical report that the cause of Arafat's death was AIDS. Need a link for that?

The medical reports have been released, and there is no HIV.

MonkeyOne Thu, Jul 5, 2012 5:47:15am

re: #47 Pythagoras

They shouldn't look for Po-210 at all. A lot of Pb-206 would be the marker.

Since that hasn't been mentioned in the news stories, I'm totally skeptical of the whole thing.

And one final point of agreement with Charles — getting a bunch of Pb-206 so as to fake the test is virtually impossible.

Pb-206 isn't radioactive that makes it sooooo much harder to detect. Meanwhile, Po-210 is highly radioactive making it much more "visible" despite its low concentration.

An example of this is Pb-210 dating. While it is called Pb-210 dating, the technique actually relies upon the detection of the very low levels of Po-210 (which is a decay product of Pb-210) rather than the much higher Pb-210 concentrations.

The radioactivity that makes Po such a deadly poison also makes it easier to detect at ultralow concentrations.

MonkeyOne Thu, Jul 5, 2012 7:04:04am

One final point... according to the Report, French doctors ran a gamma ray detector over Arafat's urine samples when he was dying in 2004. Po generates small quantities of gamma rays so if Arafat was given a large Po dose, that may have been detectable. The new reports authors reanalysised the old French data looking specifically for signals consistent with Po and also couldn't find anything.

If they had found it, it pretty much would have been a slam dunk for the poisoning hypothesis.

How relevant the lack of a Po signal in the 2004 urine samples is hard to gauge. It depends on the limits of accuracy of the gamma ray detector. The Reports authors take a guess at it (and find that it should have been sufficient to detect the Po dosage consistent with the modern Po levels), but this is a guess. I can't read French and don't have the requisite knowledge to take my own guess as to how realistic as to how much weight should be put on this result.

hugh59 Thu, Jul 5, 2012 10:14:34am

Well, if they exhume the body, he will not be resting in peace. I suspect that Israel will be blamed no matter what the ultimate findings are.

Buck Thu, Jul 5, 2012 11:05:45am

re: #50 MonkeyOne

Al Jazeera have the hospital reports and have released them. Most of them are in French and Arabic, but the English ones are fascinating.

I don't speak French, but I don't see the death certificate. Everyone of those that I have ever seen include something in "Cause of Death".

Here is Arafat's personal doctor, on Al Jazeera in 2009, saying that Arafat had AIDS.

Youtube Video

The rest of those documents could easily be nonsense, or edited. TRY AND REMEMBER THE SOURCE of this. Al Jazeera would not have any problem with publishing this even if it didn't come from the hospital directly.

The medical reports have been released, and there is no HIV.

You actually have no clue about what has been released. Has it all been released? Can you really tell that this is all of it? Who gave it to Al Jazeera? Why no death certificate? Why no interview with even one doctor who actually treated him?

Buck Thu, Jul 5, 2012 11:16:19am

re: #54 Buck

Actually the video was broadcast at August 5th 2007.

CuriousLurker Thu, Jul 5, 2012 11:27:42am

Arafat Suffered from Leukemia, Medical Treatment Exasperated His Condition

Buck Thu, Jul 5, 2012 1:27:11pm

It seems that in 2005, The New York Times gained access to Arafat's medical records and reported that he died of "a stroke that resulted from a bleeding disorder caused by an unidentified infection."

[Link: travel.nytimes.com...]

I wonder if these are the same 'records'.

The French doctors sent specimens to three different laboratories for standard toxicology tests to detect metals and drugs like barbiturates, opiates and amphetamines. None were detected. The laboratories included the Toxicology Department of the Criminal Division of Physics and Chemistry in the Institute of Criminal Research of the National Gendarmerie; the Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Toxicology and Pharmacology at Percy; and the French Army's Radiotoxicology Control Laboratory.

It is interesting to me that BOTH reports that say they are from the hospital are lacking any mention of even a test for AIDs. Multiple times we see "bleeding disorder", "aggressive infections" and issues with disseminated intravascular coagulation or DIC.

Now DIC is a very infrequent complication of HIV infection, but it is not impossible. Also known (now) is that if a patient has both HIV and DIC AND is given aggressive transfusion therapy (which Arafat was) the results could be pulmonary thrombi, and right heart failure causing death.

MonkeyOne Thu, Jul 5, 2012 6:31:29pm

re: #54 Buck

The rest of those documents could easily be nonsense, or edited. TRY AND REMEMBER THE SOURCE of this. Al Jazeera would not have any problem with publishing this even if it didn't come from the hospital directly.

Are you seriously suggesting that Al Jazeera is making up or editing French hospital records? Because that is up there with 911 truthers and Birthers for stupid conspricay theories. If they were doing that, it would fall apart in no time as the French hospital disclaimed the documents.

Here is a English translation of Arafat's hospitalisation overview. It names the large number of medical experts who partook in Arafat's care. Note the large number of haematology experts and the infectious disease experts. It would be extraordinary unlikely that they would miss full blown AIDS.

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