Swiss lab: Arafat ingested deadly polonium
Scientists say former Palestinian leader was deliberately poisoned, but can't determine exact cause of death
Swiss scientists say Yasser Arafat ingested radioactive polonium, most probably as a result of a deliberate poisoning.
The Swiss lab examined Arafat's remains and his underclothes and a travel bag that he had with him in the days before his death in a Paris hospital and found that the polonium and lead amounts could not be naturally occurring. The timeframe of his illness and death were also consistent with polonium poisoning, they said.
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"You don't accidentally or voluntarily absorb a source of polonium – it's not something that appears in the environment like that," said Patrice Mangin, director of the laboratory, on Thursday. He said he could not say unequivocally what killed Arafat.
The Palestinian leader died in November 2004. Palestinian officials accuse Israel of poisoning him, a claim Israel denies.
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