RAMALLAH, West Bank – An ailing Yasser Arafat collapsed Wednesday night, was unconscious for about 10 minutes and remained in a serious condition. A team of Jordanian doctors was urgently summoned to treat the ailing Palestinian leader, whose wife headed to her husband’s side from Paris.
An official in Arafat’s office said the Palestinian leader had created a special committee of three senior officials, including Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, to run Palestinian affairs the while 75-year-old Arafat during his continuing illness.
The Palestinian leader was eating soup during a meeting with Qureia, former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, and another official between 8 and 9 p.m. when he vomited, a bodyguard said.
Arafat was taken quickly to the clinic inside his Ramallah compound, where he collapsed and was unconscious for about 10 minutes, the guard said.
Palestinian officials soon descended on the sandbagged, partially demolished compound where Arafat has been confined for 21/2 years. The officials milled about the courtyard, waiting for news outside Arafat’s three-story headquarters that was bathed in spotlights.
Israeli security officials said Arafat’s wife, Suha, who lives in France with their young daughter, was expected to arrive today, as were the Jordanian doctors who were called to treat Arafat.
Arafat has been known to be ill for two weeks, but reports about his ailment have varied widely.
Palestinian officials said he had the flu. Israeli officials speculated he might have stomach cancer, but two of his doctors said Wednesday a blood test and a biopsy of tissue from his digestive tract showed no evidence of cancer.
On Tuesday, a hospital official said Arafat was suffering from a large gallstone. The gallstone, while extremely painful, is not life-threatening and can be easily treated, the official said.
Arafat has shown symptoms of Parkinson’s disease since the late 1990s.
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