RAMALLAH, West Bank – An ailing Yasser Arafat – too weak to stand and unable to hold down food – left his battered West Bank compound today in a Jordanian helicopter en route to Paris for urgent medical treatment, leaving behind the sandbagged headquarters that had been his virtual prison for nearly three years.
The 75-year-old Palestinian leader’s departure, a decade after he arrived in the West Bank with the promise of statehood, could mark the end of an era. Arafat, who hoarded power and declined to groom a successor, leaves behind a people in disarray.
Blood tests revealed he had a low platelet count, though it was unclear what caused the ailment, his doctors said, ruling out leukemia. In deference to his deteriorating condition, Israel lifted its travel ban on Arafat, allowing him to leave his battered headquarters compound in Ramallah for the first time since 2002 and to return if he recovers.
Arafat hasn’t traveled abroad since visiting Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan in November 2001.
Two camouflaged Jordanian helicopters landed outside Arafat’s headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah at sunrise today.
Dozens of people, many of them in military-style uniforms and green berets, whistled and chanted as they ran alongside two limousines and an ambulance carrying Arafat and his aides to the helicopters. Arafat was flying to Jordan by helicopter and from there to France on a plane sent by French President Jacques Chirac.
Palestinians across the Middle East anxiously monitored Arafat’s health Thursday, but there was no mass vigil around his compound or any other public displays of support.
In a rare show of Palestinian unity, the militant group Hamas said today it was setting aside its differences with Arafat and wished him a quick recovery.
Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, called for the “formation of a united national leadership” and preparations for general elections. In the past, Hamas said it wanted nothing to do with the Palestinian Authority, a product of peace deals with Israel.
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