JERUSALEM (AFP) - Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, under virtual house arrest since the end of 2001, was authorised to go to hospital in the West Bank town of Ramallah, an Israeli defence ministry spokesman said.
Israel's Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz "has given his authorisation for Yasser Arafat to leave his headquarters to be examined in a Ramallah hospital," the spokesman told AFP.
The Israeli government has confined Arafat, 75, to his Muqataa headquarters in Ramallah since December 2001.
A team of Tunisian doctors who examined the veteran Palestinian leader believe he is suffering from an acute bout of influenza, sources close to Arafat said Sunday.
An aide added that a decision by Arafat to continue fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan was hampering his recovery.
"The fact that he is continuing his fast does not help him recover. The doctors are also saying that the lack of sunlight or fresh air is also a factor," the aide said.
The team of medics from Tunisia carried out their examination of Arafat, whose health has been the subject of extensive speculation, at his West Bank headquarters in Ramallah on Saturday night.
Arafat suffered from gallstones last year when he was also reported to be suffering from cancer.
The Israeli daily Yediot Aharnot reported Sunday that Arafat could seek Israeli guarantees to allow him to return to his base in the event that he decides to undergo surgery outside Ramallah.
10/25/2004 - 18:45 GMT - AFP