Arafat's medical records kept closed -- for now

The Associated Press

PARIS -- France's foreign minister indicated Tuesday that his country has no intention of publishing Yasser Arafat's medical records and will leave the decision about what to do with them up to his family.

Michel Barnier's comment came shortly after Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said he had formally requested that France publish Arafat's medical records.

Arafat died at the age of 75 Thursday in a French hospital, where he was taken Oct. 29 for treatment after his health deteriorated. Neither Palestinian officials nor Arafat's French medical team have announced the cause of death.

"The medical file of Yasser Arafat will be transmitted, conforming to the law and to rules, to members of the immediate family who ask for it," Barnier told Europe-1 radio.

Asked if Paris would suggest to Arafat's wife, Suha, that she make the medical report public, Barnier replied: "The family of Yasser Arafat has the right to do as it wishes."

Qureia said in an interview Tuesday that the Palestinians have sent a letter asking the hospital to release all Arafat's health records.

"We sent an official letter, asking for all the details and all the reports," Qureia said from his office outside Jerusalem. "He is one of the region's main leaders and therefore I think we should know what happened."

The intense secrecy surrounding Arafat's final days has aroused frustration and rumors in many parts of the Arab world. Arafat's Jordanian physician, Dr. Ashraf al-Kurdi, has called for an autopsy, citing poisoning as a possible cause for Arafat's death.

However, on Saturday a top Palestinian official, Nasser al-Kidwa, the Palestinian envoy to the United Nations and Arafat's nephew, said that there is no evidence that Israel poisoned Arafat. Nevertheless, he, too, called for an investigation.

Israel has vehemently denied any wrongdoing in Arafat's death.

Barnier said that Palestinian officials who had met the French medical team treating Arafat appeared to have ruled out poisoning.

"I heard my colleague, the Palestinian minister of foreign affairs Nabil Shaath, say in a very certain manner that this theory of poisoning did not hold," Barnier said. "I cannot say anything but what the Palestinian minister of foreign affairs has said."