Arafat in Intensive Care

Yasser Arafat's condition has suddenly worsened and he is in intensive care undergoing a new round of tests, Palestinian officials in France said today.

Israeli media, citing Israeli intelligence officials, said the Palestinian leader had suffered organ failure and was going in and out of consciousness as his condition seriously deteriorated.

But Mr Arafat's aides denied there had been any major setback and accused Israel of spreading rumours. Khaled Salem, Mr Arafat's top aide, said that the prognosis was "deepening a little bit" but that he remained confident Mr Arafat would recover.

"There are no setbacks," he told reporters outside the military hospital on the outskirts of Paris. Mr Arafat has been receiving treatment since last Friday for a still-unexplained blood and digestive disorder.

"It's no secret he's ill, that's why he's in France, but there is no threat, there is no danger, no serious degradation," Mr Salem said.

Mr Arafat's officials said the Palestinian leader's health had worsened yesterday and that French doctors still did not know the cause of his illness.

Speculation in Israel has ranged from a viral infection to stomach cancer, and the Maariv daily newspaper today described Mr Arafat's condition as "very critical".

Palestinian officials insist publicly that leukaemia and other forms of cancer, as well as any type of poisoning, have been ruled out.

Mr Arafat, who has been ill for three weeks, was flown to hospital last week after passing out briefly at his headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah. He was initially described as having bad flu, with symptoms of vomiting and diarrhoea.

Undoubtedly conscious of the anxiety back home at the thought of a future without Mr Arafat - who has led the Palestinians for 40 years with no obvious successor - his officials have previously described his condition as improving. French hospital and military officials have so far refused to comment, but more information is expected from a previously planned news conference this afternoon.

Israel Radio reported that Mahmoud Abbas, number two in the hierarchy of Mr Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organisation and his first prime minister, was on his way to Paris to see him this morning.

Yesterday, Leila Shahid, the Palestinian envoy to France, said Mr Arafat felt well enough to ask about the US presidential election.

An aide later issued a statement in Mr Arafat's name congratulating George Bush on his re-election. News of a worsening of Mr Arafat's condition comes as speculation mounts about how a second Bush term in the White House might affect the prospects of peace in the Middle East.

Tony Blair, yesterday called the Middle East the single most pressing political challenge facing the world.

Senior Israeli security officials were to meet today to study the repercussions in the Middle East should Mr Arafat die, Israeli officials said.

The Israeli foreign minister, Silvan Shalom, said Israel was tracking Mr Arafat's health "very carefully".

"Our goal is to prepare for the day after, if and when he dies," he told Israel Radio.

Israeli intelligence was widely criticised after it was caught off guard last week by the sudden deterioration in Mr Arafat's health. Mr Shalom said his condition was "very serious" but gave no details. At the same time, he added that it was "too soon to eulogise Yasser Arafat".