French to Release Arafat Medical Records

French officials were expected to release the medical records of Yasser Arafat to his nephew today, with Palestinian officials indicating they would make them public.

Making the records public could curb some of the speculation in the Arab world that the late Palestinian leader was poisoned by Israel.

Rumours of foul play have flourished, despite denials by Palestinian leaders, because French laws forbid officials from releasing anyone's cause of death to the public.

The officials can, though, disclose the records to relatives and Arafat's nephew, Nasser al-Kidwa, the Palestinian Authority's ambassador to the United Nations, was travelling today to France to see them.

A French ministry of defence spokesman, quoted by the AFP news agency, said it was expecting a request relating to the documents and said: "We will respond to it positively".

It was unclear whether Arafat's widow, Suha, had been consulted about the disclosure of the records to Mr Kidwa. She has so far refused to make the records public.

Arafat, who was 75, was buried in Ramallah in the West Bank last week. He died after a two-week stay in a French military hospital on the outskirts of Paris on November 11.

In Ramallah, the Palestinian cabinet secretary Hassan Abu Libdeh said last night: "We will get the report and the Palestinian Authority will take the necessary decisions, including informing the Palestinian people about the full details of the report."

Earlier this week, Le Monde quoted doctors as saying Arafat had suffered from an unusual blood disease and a liver problem. While he was ill, there were denials about speculation that he had cancer or leukaemia.