MDs: Arafat Has Low Platelet Count

Doctors decided to fly ailing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to Paris for treatment, as associates described an Palestinian leader who was too weak to stand Thursday, appeared confused and spent most of the day sleeping.

Fifteen doctors — including Palestinians and specialists rushed in from Jordan, Tunisia and Egypt — examined the 75-year-old Arafat on Thursday and decided he would be able to get the best treatment in Paris, one of the doctors said on condition of anonymity.

It was later announced that Arafat has a low platelet count. The news that the Palestinian leader has a shortage of platelets, which aid in blood clotting, was the first official statement on Arafat's health since he was reported sick yesterday. Among the possible causes of a low platelet count are bleeding ulcers, colitis and blood cancers such as leukemia.

Arafat's personal physician says there's no immediate threat to his life. He also says Arafat's "spirits are high."

Aides said Arafat would leave Friday morning. French President Jacques Chirac's office has confirmed that Arafat will receive treatment in Paris.

Sending Arafat to Paris highlights the severity of the health crisis and will mark the first time he has left his battered Ramallah headquarters since he was confined there by Israel in 2002.

"He needs more medical tests and the Mukata is not the proper place for this," a Palestinian cabinet minister told the Jerusalem Post.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, in a telephone conversation with his Egyptian counterpart, agreed to allow Arafat to be flown abroad for treatment. Israeli officials reportedly have assured Palestinian officials that Arafat will be allowed to return to Ramallah after treatment.

"The Israeli government is most certainly trying to bend over backwards to make it appear that it is doing whatever it can to allow Arafat to receive whatever treatment he needs," said CBS News Reporter David Jablinowitz, reporting from Arafat's compound. "There is a view in Israel that no matter what happens, Israel will be blamed for his death, if that's what ultimately happens."

On Wednesday evening, the 75-year-old leader's persistent two-week illness had taken a sudden turn for the worse. Arafat vomited after eating soup, then collapsed and was unconscious for about 10 minutes, a bodyguard said.

Palestinian officials initially tried to play down the health problems, saying he performed Muslim prayers before dawn Thursday and ate a light breakfast of cornflakes and milk.

But a close Arafat associate said the Palestinian leader spent most of the day sleeping. When he awoke, he was moved into a wheelchair because he was very weak and could not stand up, the associate said. At times, Arafat appeared confused, not recognizing some of his visitors, he added.

Arafat has been unable to hold down food, and also suffers from diarrhea, the associate said on condition of anonymity.

Arafat's wife, Suha arrived in Ramallah Thursday to be by his side. She lives in Paris, and has not seen her husband since 2001. It was not known whether their four-year-old daughter was with her or had remained in Paris.

Her return indicates the seriousness of Arafat's condition, reports Jablinowitz.

Arafat's health crisis has highlighted how unprepared the Palestinians are for their leader's death, making a chaotic transition period all but inevitable. Arafat has refused to groom a successor, fearing an impatient protege could turn on him.

Two Palestinian leadership groups, the Central Committee of the ruling Fatah movement and the PLO Executive Committee, planned to meet at Arafat's headquarters later Thursday.

One Palestinian official said Arafat has created a special committee consisting of Qureia, former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, and Salim Zaanoun, head of the Palestinian National Council, to run the PLO and the Palestinian Authority while he is ill.

But when asked if Arafat had set up such a committee, Arafat spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeneh said: "Nothing like that."

Israeli defense officials met Thursday to discuss the possible fallout if Arafat dies. Anxious Palestinians throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip waited for any scrap of information about his condition, with many fearing his death would plunge their nation into a profound crisis.

Arafat has been confined to the sandbagged, partially demolished compound by occasional Israeli military blockades and by threats that he would not be allowed to return if he leaves.

Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported Thursday that Israel has marked a possible burial site for Arafat in the Jerusalem suburb of Abu Dis, in the West Bank, and has taken the location of the plot into consideration in planning the route of its West Bank separation barrier.

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said a Palestinian Authority without Arafat could become a partner for peace. "We always said we would be willing to talk to a Palestinian leadership that would be willing once and for all to bring an end to the bloodshed," Shalom told Israel Radio.

Arafat has been 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 that.

Israeli officials speculated Arafat had suffered a stroke. Arafat has shown symptoms of Parkinson's disease since the late 1990s.