Arafat 'has Only Hours to Live'

The Palestinian caretaker leadership are "counting the hours" to Yasser Arafat's death, after talking to doctors treating him, it was reported today.

The Reuters news agency, quoting sources close to the leadership, said the Palestinian prime minister, Ahmed Qureia, and his colleagues discussed Mr Arafat's health with doctors on a hospital visit and now believed he had only hours to live.

A senior aide, Tayeb Abdel Rahim, said Mr Arafat was suffering from a brain haemorrhage and was in a critical condition.

An Islamic cleric whose opinion might be sought in any decision to remove Mr Arafat from his life support equipment is now being dispatched to Paris.

Taissir Dayut Tamimi, the head of the Islamic court in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, said he was going to Paris "to be near President Arafat at this crucial time."

Recent claims on Mr Arafat's health have ranged from a reversible coma to brain death.

His wellbeing is a political issue, since he can be removed from office if four doctors certify he is permanently incapacitated. His wife, Suha, has refused to allow the hospital to reveal details of her husband's condition and accused the caretaker leadership of planning to "bury him alive".

Doctors at the French military hospital made their first public statement on Mr Arafat's health for several days today to say that his condition had worsened overnight.

The deterioration was described as "significant", but the doctors did not say if he would or would not be able to recover from it.

"The comatose state that led to his admission into intensive care is deeper this morning," Christian Estripeau, the chief doctor treating him, said outside Percy military hospital in a south-western suburb of Paris.

"That marks a significant step towards an evolution which cannot yet be determined."

Mrs Arafat tried to stop Mr Qureia's visit with an agitated phone call to al-Jazeera television yesterday in which she denounced the emerging Palestinian leadership.

"Let it be known to the honest Palestinian people that a bunch of those who want to inherit are coming to Paris trying to bury Abu Ammar [Yasser Arafat] alive," she said.

"I appeal to the Palestinian people to be aware of the scope of the conspiracy. I tell you they are trying to bury Abu Ammar alive. Abu Ammar is well and he is coming back to his homeland."

The tone of her comments has added to concerns that, despite the denials, Mr Arafat is being kept alive artificially.

The al-Jazeera interview was widely condemned by a Palestinian establishment that has generally avoided public criticism of Mrs Arafat, although she is scorned in private for a lavish lifestyle in Paris funded by her husband's secret bank accounts.

Mrs Arafat left Ramallah at the beginning of the intifada four years ago and there is resentment that a woman who has taken little part in the struggle now seeks to isolate the Palestinian leader from his colleagues.