Ailing Arafat to be taken to Paris for treatment

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Doctors decided to fly ailing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to Paris for treatment, as associates described a Palestinian leader who was too weak to stand Thursday, appeared confused and spent most of the day sleeping.

Fifteen doctors — including Palestinians and specialists rushed in from Jordan, Tunisia and Egypt — examined the 75-year-old Arafat on Thursday and decided he would be able to get the best treatment in Paris, one of the doctors said on condition of anonymity.

If Arafat were taken to the hospital, it would highlight the severity of the health crisis and mark the first time for him to leave his battered Ramallah headquarters since he was confined there by Israel in 2002.

Israeli officials assured the Palestinians on Thursday that if Arafat recovered, he would be able to return to the West Bank, a prominent Israel-Arab lawmaker said. In the past, Israel was unwilling to make such promises.

The doctors, who had considered flying Arafat by helicopter to a hospital in Amman, Jordan, were by Arafat's side Thursday in a small clinic at his compound after he collapsed and briefly lost consciousness Wednesday night.

Palestinian officials initially tried to play down the health problems, saying he performed Muslim prayers before dawn Thursday and ate a light breakfast of cornflakes and milk.

On Thursday evening, Arafat's aides released two photos showing him sitting in a chair, broadly smiling as he posed with his doctors. He wore blue pajamas and a dark stocking cap — a rare view of Arafat without his trademark black-and-white checkered headscarf.

But a close Arafat associate said the Palestinian leader spent most of the day sleeping. When he awoke, he was moved into a wheelchair because he was very weak and could not stand up, the associate said. At times, Arafat appeared confused, not recognizing some of his visitors, he added.

Arafat has been unable to hold down food, and also suffers from diarrhea, the associate said on condition of anonymity.

Israeli defense officials met Thursday to discuss the possible fallout if Arafat dies. Anxious Palestinians throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip waited for any scrap of information about his condition, with many fearing his death would plunge their nation into a profound crisis.