Arafat to head to Paris on Friday morning

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Oct 28 (AFP) - Yasser Arafat is to be flown to the French capital Paris via Jordan on Friday morning for hospital treatment, a close friend of the ailing Palestinian leader told reporters.
"The president will be transferred to Paris tomorrow at 6:30 am (0430 GMT) in the morning," said Munib al-Masri, a billionaire member of the Palestinian National Council.
"A Jordanian helicopter will come here and pick him up at the Muqataa, take him to Amman and then he will go to Paris."
A French presidential spokesman had earlier confirmed that France was sending a plane to the region to airlift Arafat to Paris where he will be treated for a potentially fatal blood disorder.

10/28/2004 17:35 GMT - AFP