RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - Ailing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is to fly to France from his West Bank headquarters to treat what doctors have described as a potentially fatal blood disorder.
As Palestinian television broadcast footage Thursday of a gaunt-looking Arafat joking with medics inside his ruined Muqataa leadership compound, Israel said it would allow the 75-year-old to go "wherever he wants" for treatment.
Palestinians expressed fears that the death of Arafat, the man who has personified their struggle and dominated their political life for the last four decades, could lead to a further bout of turmoil in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
A source close to Arafat, who has been under virtual house arrest by Israel for almost three years, told AFP that a decision had been taken to fly the Palestinian Authority supremo to Paris.
The French foreign ministry confirmed that Arafat would be transferred imminently, while a close friend of the veteran leader said he would leave early on Friday.
One of the medics who has been treating Arafat for the last few days said he was suffering from a condition which could prove fatal, after conflicting reports about the deteriorating state of his health.
"His blood cells which should normally destroy microbes are currently destroying blood platelets," the doctor said on condition of anonymity, adding that the disorder could have been triggered "by an inflammation caused by a virus, a cancer or blood poisoning.
"The doctors think he must be transferred abroad for further examinations in order to receive the care he needs, as he could die if the condition persists."
Israel was anxiously preparing for the turmoil that could greet Arafat`s possible departure from the political scene with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon convening a meeting of senior security officials.
As speculation snowballed over his condition, film footage and photos of Arafat were released to the media.
Wearing light-grey pyjamas and a charcoal grey bobble-hat replacing his trademark black and white keffiyeh, he appeared weak but still smiling as he sat with doctors.
Arafat had earlier joined morning prayers for the holy Muslim month of Ramadan and sent a message from his bedside to reassure his people and the rest of the world that he was "okay," according to members of his entourage.
Prime minister Ahmed Qorei said that Arafat was "okay" after calling on the patient while Musa Arafat, head of general security in the Gaza Strip and a relative of the Palestinian Authority supremo, said his condition had improved.
Prominent Palestinian politician Hanan Ashrawi said: "He had some cornflakes and milk, which is an improvement, because yesterday he was unable to keep anything down."
Arafat had been initially diagnosed as suffering nothing worse than a severe bout of influenza. But as his condition deteriorated, medical teams from Egypt and Jordan also arrived in Ramallah Thursday.
They were joined by his wife Suha and nine-year-old daughter Zahwa, making a first visit to the Muqataa since the start of his confinement in December 2001.
Sharon has declared Arafat an absolute obstacle to the peace process and even threatened to kill him. But officials made clear they would not seek to block his departure.
"Israel will not impose any restriction on Arafat`s movement for anything regarding the treatment he needs," senior government spokesman Raanan Gissin said.
"For us, it is a purely medical and humanitarian question. If the doctors think he heeds to be transferred to hospital and then returned, Israel will not impose any restrictions," he said.
Arab Israeli MP Ahmed Tibi told reporters he had been personally assured by a senior Sharon advisor that Arafat would not be prevented from returning.
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said Arafat`s death had the potential to galvanise the stalled peace process by allowing the emergence of another Palestinian leadership.
"Until now, everything has been happening under his shadow. He has blocked every possibility of dialogue because he wanted to go down in the history of the Palestinian people as the man who refused every compromise," said Shalom.
Qorei and former prime minister Mahmud Abbas, who remains deputy head of Arafat`s Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), are regarded as the leading candidates to replace Arafat.
Militant Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, meanwhile, pledged their determination to avoid a potentially disastrous internal power struggle if Arafat`s health problems prove fatal.
The two armed groups, behind the deadliest attacks to hit Israel in the past few years, both played down fears of a destabilising fight to fill the vacuum that would be left by Arafat`s demise.
Samir Tubassi, a pharmacist from Ramallah, expressed widespread fears that Arafat`s death could trigger turmoil among the Palestinians.
"People worry that there will be a political and security crisis following his death," said Tubassi. "It just goes to show how undemocratic we are, everything here depends on the fate of one man who failed to prepare for his succession."

10/29/2004 - 00:38 GMT - AFP