PARIS, Nov 1 (AFP) - Palestinian officials voiced optimism Monday about Yasser Arafat's condition, saying the ailing Palestinian Authority president had shown improvement at the start of a crucial week for his political future.
"The president's condition is stable and good, and he is still receiving treatment," top Arafat adviser Nabil Abu Rudeina told reporters.
He added that final results of a battery of tests conducted by French doctors treating Arafat at the Percy military hospital in the southwestern Paris suburb of Clamart would not be available "before Wednesday or Thursday".
Abu Rudeina said the frail 75-year-old Palestinian leader had received hundreds of messages of support from around the world, including a telephone call from Jordan's King Abdullah II and his wife Rania.
"There is a clear improvement," a senior official from the Palestinian delegation told AFP earlier.
"We are now more confident and assured of the president's health and we hope that within the next 48 hours, all the tests will be completed, now that we are sure that he is not suffering from any kind of cancer," the official added.
Arafat -- the symbol of the Palestinian struggle for statehood for 40 years -- was dramatically evacuated from his Ramallah headquarters on Friday and flown to Paris aboard a French government jet to receive treatment.
At the weekend, officials ruled out leukemia or any other life-threatening illness, saying Arafat's condition was curable. He is believed to be suffering from a serious blood disorder.
"The doctors are happy because his situation is quite stable. He's eating a bit more, he's more active with his environment, he's speaking to people around him, and he's well," the Palestinian envoy in France, Leila Shahid, said Sunday.
Arafat spoke Sunday with French President Jacques Chirac, who called to ask about his health, and was briefed by his advisers about developments in the Palestinian territories since his departure on Friday.
In Israel on Monday, three civilians were killed and 30 more wounded in a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, the first attack since Arafat -- accused by the Israelis of giving the green light to attacks by militants -- was hospitalized.
Arafat condemned the attack from his hospital bed, Abu Rudeina told AFP, saying: "He noted that he has always been against attacks targetting civilians, whatever their nationality or religion."
Arafat's poor health and his departure from his battered West Bank headquarters has sparked intense speculation about his eventual successor.
In Arafat's absence, Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qorei has been been placed in overall charge of the Palestinian Authority, while former premier Mahmud Abbas is heading up the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Arafat's dominant Fatah faction.
Qorei was hosting a meeting of his cabinet early Monday where the implications of Arafat's absence were expected to be discussed.
Abbas was expected in the French capital on Wednesday, the day that Arafat's doctors could reveal their diagnosis, a member of the Palestinian delegation in Paris said on condition of anonymity at the weekend.
While Israel has been keeping a close eye on unfolding events in the Palestinian camp, it has abstained from naming a preferred candidate to succeed Arafat.
One of Arafat's doctors told AFP last week that his white blood cells were destroying platelets, which are needed for blood clotting. Specialists said such symptoms could indicate a range of conditions, from a virus to cancer.
Arafat's doctors have barred most visitors. His wife Suha keeps a constant vigil at his bedside.
11/01/2004 13:12 GMT - AFP