JERUSALEM (AFP) - Political leaders in Israel and the West Bank steeled themselves for the end of the Yasser Arafat era as the vanguard of the Palestinian nationalist struggle for the last four decades lay brain dead in a Paris hospital.
Palestinian officials fiercely denied that Arafat had passed away after Israeli media reported that the 75-year-old had died.
But while French medical sources said Arafat was technically still alive, they added that he was "brain dead" and only breathing with the help of life support machines while in an irreversible coma.
Technically, Arafat is "not dead," one source told AFP on condition of confidentiality. But there was no hope of him leaving his vegetative state and recovering basic body functions such as breathing without assistance.
Such artificial care can be "extended for several days or several weeks thanks to the machines," the source said.
Israel`s private Channel 2 network and army radio had reported that Arafat had been declared dead at a military hospital in Clamart, southwest of Paris.
But Azzam Al-Ahmed, communications minister in the Palestinian cabinet and one of Arafat`s closest allies, insisted that news of his death was premature.
"It is wrong. If the president was dead, the whole world would know," the minister told AFP.
"But it is true that he is a very critical condition."
Arafat was flown to Paris on Friday for treatment of a blood disorder after being dramatically airlifted from the West Bank compound where he had been under effective Israeli house arrest for nearly three years.
At Clamart, a top official for the French defence forces also emphasised that "Mr Arafat is not dead" while adding that his "clinical situation has become more complex."
"The patient`s condition needs appropriate treatment which required his being transferred to a unit suited to his pathology on the afternoon of Wednesday November 3," General Christian Estripeau said in a brief statement to reporters.
Doctor Ashraf al-Kurdi, Arafat`s personal physician, also denied that his patient had died.
"Twenty minutes ago I phoned Paris and I called one of the people who are with him in the room and they said the news that he is already dead or brain dead is not true," Kurdi said.
"His condition is stable and they did different kinds of investigations on him and cannot find any abnormality," he told Channel 2 by phone from Amman.
Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qorei had earlier tried to play down the seriousness of Arafat`s condition, denying he was in a coma and insisted that recent test results had been positive.
Qorei had been attending emergency leadership meetings of the Palestine Liberation Organisation and the dominant Fatah party. Both have been led by Arafat for some four decades, but were chaired Thursday by former prime minister Mahmud Abbas.
Amid widespread fears that Arafat`s death could trigger chaos on the streets of the Palestinian territories, Qorei was initially expected to head to the Gaza Strip on Friday for a meeting with top security officials but he later postponed his trip.
Similarly, Abbas had been expected to fly to Paris on Thursday but he scrapped his plans as news of Arafat`s deteriorating condition began to filter through.
Signs of nerves on the Israeli side were also evident as troops in the occupied territories were placed on a state of alert after Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz called a meeting in Tel Aviv also attended by the heads of the country`s security services.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has refused all dealings with Arafat since coming to power in 2001, instead confining him to his West Bank headquarters until his dramatic airlift to Paris last Friday.
Arafat`s death or permanent incapacitation has the potential to galvanise the Middle East peace process.
Sharon met Abbas on a number of occasions last year before a massive suicide bomb prompted Israel to freeze top-level contacts with the Palestinians.
Arafat has also been snubbed by US President George W. Bush. Asked for his reaction to the reports of Arafat`s death, Bush said "God bless his soul".
11/04/2004 - 18:36 GMT - AFP