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Last update - 00:21 04/11/2004
Arafat in intensive care due to sudden deterioration in health
By Ze'ev Schiff, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service and Reuters
The health of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat seriously deteriorated Wednesday night.
He was placed in an intensive-care unit at the French military hospital where he is being treated.
Arafat was flown to France for treatment last Friday after his health worsened.
The sudden deterioration came a few hours after Leila Shahid, the Palestinians' permanent envoy to Paris, reiterated that doctors carrying out tests on Arafat in the suburb of Clamart, southwest of Paris, had ruled out leukemia or any other form of cancer and said his health was improving.
"We are happy that his health is getting better." she said. "Now we have to continue the examinations to find the reason for his general fatigue and the weakness of his blood. But I think we are going in the right direction."
Arafat says he hopes Bush will adopt new peace policy
Arafat hopes United States President George W. Bush will adopt a new "policy of peace" in the Middle East, an aide said on Wednesday.
Shahid told LCI television in Paris she was worried by the prospect of a second term for Bush because he had conducted what she called a policy of war.
"I think that, like all Palestinians, he [Arafat] is waiting to see what President Bush is going to do to revert to a policy of peace rather than a policy of war," Shahid said as television network projections showed Bush edging towards victory.
"I am worried because President Bush has for four years been in charge of the American administration that has conducted a policy of war more than a policy of peace and which decided to put the peace process in a freezer for the last four years."
She added: "What worries me is that in this second term the desire to see a new American president, a new government continuing the peace process is not being fulfilled."
Shahid said there was a big difference between Bush and his Democratic challenger John Kerry on foreign policy but did not say elaborate.
Aides said on Tuesday that Arafat was followin the election but had refused to be drawn on whether he preferred Bush or Kerry.
The U.S. has tried to freeze the Palestinian leader out of the picture in the Middle East conflict.
Israel accuses Arafat of fomenting violence in an uprising that began in 2000, something Arafat denies.
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