RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat collapsed yesterday evening, was unconscious for about 10 minutes and remained in a “very difficult situation,” Palestinian officials said.
One official last night told the Associated Press that the Palestinian leader was in “serious condition.”
A team of Jordanian doctors was urgently summoned to treat the ailing Palestinian leader.
Mr. Arafat was having soup during a meeting with Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and another official between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. (2 p.m. and 3 p.m. EDT) when he vomited, according to a bodyguard who was in the compound at the time.
The 75-year-old Palestinian leader was brought to the clinic inside the compound, where he collapsed and was unconscious for about 10 minutes, the guard said.
However, appearing on CNN last night, Saeb Erekat, chief negotiator for the Palestinians, denied reports that the Palestinian leader was in critical condition or that he ever had lost consciousness.
On news that his health was worsening, scores of top Palestinian officials descended on the sandbagged, partially demolished Ramallah, compound where he has been confined for 2 years. The officials milled around the courtyard, waiting for news outside Mr. Arafat’s three-story building, bathed in spotlights.
Israeli security officials said his wife, Suha, who lives in France with their young daughter, was expected to arrive today. The Jordanian doctors also were due today.
A decision to move Mr. Arafat from his compound to a hospital will be made purely on medical grounds, without taking politics into consideration, a senior Palestinian official said.
Israel said it would allow Mr. Arafat to leave the compound for the hospital and return afterward.
An official said Mr. Arafat was not awake when he saw him later in the evening, but it was not clear whether he was sleeping, had been sedated or was in a coma. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Earlier, Arafat spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeneh told reporters that Mr. Arafat was in “stable condition, but he needs more rest and more medical care.”
The Palestinian leader has been ill for two weeks, suffering from what Palestinian officials said was the flu. Israeli officials speculated that he might have stomach cancer, but two of his doctors said yesterday that a blood test and a biopsy of tissue from his digestive tract showed no evidence of cancer.
On Tuesday, a hospital official said Mr. Arafat was suffering from a large gallstone. The gallstone, while extremely painful, is not life-threatening and can be treated easily, the official said.
Dr. Ashraf Kurdi, a Jordanian doctor who is heading the team due to arrive today, said he was urgently summoned to Mr. Arafat’s compound but was given no details of his condition.
“I tried to get a medical report from them. I couldn’t get anything,” he said.
Mr. Arafat’s health crisis has highlighted how unprepared the Palestinians are for their leader’s death, making a chaotic transition period all but inevitable. Mr. Arafat has refused to groom a successor. Rival security chiefs already have battled each other in the streets.
Mr. Qureia and Mr. Abbas have been touted as possible political heirs to the Palestinian chief, though Mr. Arafat has bickered with both and has blocked their attempts to limit his powers.
No leader of his stature and popularity is waiting in the wings, said Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi. “It’s only natural to expect that there would be either a power struggle or there would be a loss of cohesion,” she said.
Analysts said it could take years for a leader to emerge, hurting prospects for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. However, Israel and the United States hold out hope that a post-Arafat Middle East will be more conducive to peace because of what they say is Mr. Arafat’s blind eye to terror and opposition to reform.
Polls show the second most popular Palestinian after Mr. Arafat is Marwan Barghouti, a leader of Fatah’s young guard. But Barghouti is serving five consecutive life terms in an Israeli prison for involvement in deadly shooting.
On paper, at least, a path of succession has been charted. The parliament speaker would replace Mr. Arafat as Palestinian Authority president for 60 days, until elections are held. However, the current speaker, Rauhi Fattouh, is a bland backbencher uncertain to hold on during a turbulent transition period, and timely elections appear unlikely.
Mr. Arafat’s other post, as Palestine Liberation Organization chief, would be filled, at least temporarily, by Mr. Abbas.
During Mr. Arafat’s long confinement in the compound, doctors have equipped two rooms with medical equipment, including X-ray, ultrasound machines and emergency-resuscitation gear.
In tests this week, Mr. Arafat was in his pajamas and wore a blue wool hat, instead of his trademark kaffiyeh, a black-and-white checkered head scarf, an official on the medical team said.
The medical official said Mr. Arafat continues to sleep in a small room, which has only one window and is furnished with a bed and a closet, even though a new, sunnier room has been refurbished for him on another floor.
From his small window, Mr. Arafat looks out on rubble and heaps of cars flattened in previous Israeli raids.
Associated Press writer Karin Laub contributed to this report from Jerusalem.
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