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INTERVIEW: Steve Erlanger Discusses an investigation into Yasser Arafat's death
Talk of the Nation: September 8, 2005
Documents Shed Light on Arafat's Death
NEAL CONAN, host:
Last fall, the rapid decline and then the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat left behind a swirl of dark rumors about what he died from and whether fowl play was involved. Arafat's doctors did not announce the cause of his death. His medical records were kept secret. There was no autopsy. In the absence of hard facts, people have speculated that he was poisoned, perhaps that he had AIDS. The New York Times just managed to get a copy of Mr. Arafat's medical records and conducted their own investigation. Time's Jerusalem bureau chief Steve Erlanger joins us now by phone from his home in Jerusalem.
Steve, nice to talk to you again.
Mr. STEVE ERLANGER (The New York Times): Hello.
CONAN: What did you find out?
Mr. ERLANGER: Well, what we got was Arafat's medical files from the French military hospital where he spent the last part of his life. And we found that he died of a stroke, which is not surprising. That's a massive hemorrhage of the brain. And that was caused by a significant blood disorder which meant difficulty for him to clot his blood. And that in turn was caused by a massive infection which we believe started in his bowels. But what we and the doctors did not discover was the actual source of the infection. But one thing that's quite clear from the records and of course the illness is that he did not have AIDS, even though the French doctors for some reason had not done an HIV test. And it seemed very, very unlikely again from the course of his illness and from the various toxicology reports the French did that he was poisoned. He simply in some ways collapsed from an infection that was treated much too late in Ramallah and from old age.
CONAN: Yet there are people who are convinced to this day that he was poisoned, including, according to your story, his personal physician.
Mr. ERLANGER: Yes, that's true. And Palestinian officials will often say they believe he was poisoned because his deterioration was so rapid. The French hospital reports--you can't rule out poison completely. They did, as I said, a series of toxicology tests, mostly for standard kinds of poison. There are some more sophisticated ones, but medical experts that we spoke to and to whom we showed the records said that the course of his illness, again, did not lend them to believe that an outside toxin had been introduced to Arafat. There was a period in the French hospital when he seemed to recover somewhat, was walking, talking and--before he collapsed again. And they also say that his liver and kidneys did not suffer the kind of damage that poison would have caused. So for those two reasons, they think poison was highly unlikely, even though the toxicology reports found no poison.
CONAN: We're talking with Steve Erlanger, the Jerusalem bureau chief of The New York Times, about the story in today's newspaper, today's edition of The New York Times, about the secret medical records of Yasser Arafat.
You're listening to TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News.
One of the curiosities of the medical treatment of Yasser Arafat, he fell ill October 12th but did not start to receive antibiotics until more than two weeks later. What happened?
Mr. ERLANGER: Well, this happened in Ramallah, and he fell ill four hours after eating on October 12th in the evening, which made some people wonder what had been in his food. And at first he simply had kind of gastroenteritis symptoms. Nobody (technical difficulties) too much attention. Finally, some doctors came in. They thought he had flu. But the symptoms continued and other doctors were brought in by his wife, Suha, from Tunis. They noticed that he had a blood problem, his red blood cells were very low. And so they treated him for a particular blood disease I won't try to pronounce, something like thrombopenia. But they did not realize that this was actually part of a larger blood-clotting disorder that was going on unchecked and that there was an infection causing this that was also going on unchecked. And for whatever reason, he didn't get a first full dose of antibiotics until October 27th, which was 15 days after he came down ill and only two days before he was sent to Paris.
CONAN: The nature of that underlying infection was not identified. Is it possible it was HIV?
Mr. ERLANGER: Anything's possible in the absence of an HIV test, but again, the doctors we consulted, which included two very good AIDS specialists, infectious disease specialists, hematologists, toxicologists, said they very much doubted it from the course of the illness that if he had had AIDS, it was much more likely that his gastric syndromes would have gone on for much longer. And AIDS would have also meant a very low white blood cell count in his blood because his immune system would've been nearly destroyed. But in fact, his white blood cell count was quite hit, which meant that he was fighting off an infection, which is another important reason why the specialists believe that he did not have AIDS.
CONAN: Getting back to the question of poison, Steve, if there are Palestinian officials and his personal physician who suspect that poison was involved, they have reasons for their suspicions.
Mr. ERLANGER: Oh, absolutely. Israel has used poison in the past. In 1997, it poisoned a senior Hamas leader named Khalid Mashal in Jordan and the late King Hussein, then alive. So Bill Clinton forced Israel to hand over the antidote. Mr. Mashal is still alive in Damascus and still a senior Hamas official. The Israelis deny that they had anything to do with Mr. Arafat's death, but the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, never was much of a fan of Mr. Arafat dating from 1982 and the Lebanon War and said he often regretted not (technical difficulties)...
CONAN: Steve, I'm afraid your telephone line has betrayed you. But we appreciate your taking the time to speak with us today.
Steve Erlanger, the Jerusalem bureau chief for The New York Times. Again, his story in today's editions of The New York Times, talking about the medical records--no autopsy was performed--the medical records kept by French doctors of the illness that claimed the life of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat last year.
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CONAN: I'm Neal Conan, NPR News, in Washington.
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