Yasser Arafat was “poisoned with radioactive material that killed Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko,” according to Swiss scientists conducting testing on the late Palestinian leader.
As The Inquisitr reported last December, Arafat’s remains were exhumed in order to determine exactly what killed him, after claims arose that there was possible foul play. There was no autopsy done at the time of his death following the wishes of his widow, Suha.
Toxicologists at the University of Lausanne have confirmed that they found traces of polonium-210 on Arafat’s clothing. This is the same element that killed Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko in 2006.
Arafat died in France in 2004 at the age of 75 and French authorities had already begun an investigation even before his body was exhumed, due to increase suspicions that his cause of death was poisoning and not a stroke related to a blood disorder, as was reported at the time.
Yasser Arafat’s widow was in agreement to exhume the body, buried in his Mukata compound in the city of Ramallah, to find out what the true cause of death was.
A report published in the Lancet journal confirms that 38 items belonging to Arafat have tested positive for polonium-210. These include a toothbrush and underwear.
“Several samples containing body fluid stains (blood and urine) contained higher unexplained polonium 210 activities than the reference samples. These findings support the possibility of Arafat’s poisoning with polonium 210.” the report reads.
Yasser Arafat may have been poisoned with the same radioactive substence as Russian spy Litvinenko, experts reveal http://t.co/4e5bd1SfAf
— HuffPost UK (@HuffPostUK) October 15, 2013
“Although the absence of myelosuppression [bone marrow deficiency] and hair loss does not favor acute radiation syndrome, symptoms of nausea, vomiting, fatigue, diarrhea, and anorexia, followed by hepatic and renal failures, might suggest radioactive poisoning.”
The report does not determine whether Yasser Arafat was poisoned deliberately or by accident if he came into contact with the polonium-210.
In a similar case to that of Yasser Arafat, Litvinenko, 43, died in November 2006 after he was poisoned with polonium in London, when he was allegedly served tea during a meeting with two former colleagues.
