Swiss forensic team submits Arafat testing results to Palestinian Authority - Middle East Israel News

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  • Swiss forensic team submits Arafat testing results to Palestinian Authority
    Haaretz
    http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.556516

    The Swiss forensic team that tested the remains of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for possible poisoning submitted results to the Palestinian Authority on Tuesday.

     Russian experts have already submitted their findings, and a French team is also expected to do so. The Russians concluded that no trace of the deadly substance polonium had been found in Arafat’s body.

    Palestinian official Tawfik Tirawi said the report was received Tuesday in Geneva. He said the results will be studied before they are made public.

    The longtime Palestinian leader died at a French hospital in 2004, but the cause of death has never been determined. Many Palestinians believe Israel poisoned Arafat, an allegation that Israel denies.

    Last year, a Swiss lab discovered traces of polonium-210, a deadly radioactive isotope, on clothes provided by Arafat’s widow, Suha. More samples were subsequently taken from his remains in the West Bank. Polonium disintegrates rapidly, and experts have cautioned that too much time may have passed to reach a conclusive result.

    The Swiss, French and Russian teams took the samples after exhuming Arafat’s body in Ramallah.