Arafat collapses, health worsens

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Yasser Arafat collapsed Wednesday night, was unconscious for about 10 minutes and remained in a “very difficult situation,” Palestinian officials said. A team of Jordanian doctors was urgently summoned to treat the ailing Palestinian leader.

A Palestinian official in Arafat’s office said the Palestinian leader had created a special committee of three senior officials, including Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, to run Palestinian affairs while Arafat was incapacitated.

However, other Palestinian officials, including his spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeneh, denied that such a committee had been formed.

Arafat was eating soup during a meeting with Qureia, his predecessor, Mahmoud Abbas, and another official between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. (2 p.m. or 3 p.m. EDT) when he vomited, according to a bodyguard who was in the compound at the time.

The 75-year-old Arafat was taken to the clinic inside the compound, where he collapsed and was unconscious for about 10 minutes, the guard said. His doctors were urgently summoned.

On news that Arafat’s health was worsening, scores of top Palestinian officials descended on the sandbagged, partially demolished Ramallah compound where he has been confined for 2½ years. The officials milled around the courtyard, waiting for news outside Arafat’s three-story building that was bathed in spotlights.

Israeli security officials said Arafat’s wife, Suha, who lives in France with their young daughter, was expected to arrive Thursday. The Jordanian doctors were also due Thursday.

An official in Arafat’s office said the Palestinian leader had deputized Qureia, former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, and Salim Zaanoun, head of the Palestinian National Council, to run the PLO and the Palestinian Authority while he is ill.

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