Israeli television reported Friday that Yasser Arafat suffers from a serious illness and that a search for a successor has begun. But people close to Arafat denied the report, saying the 68-year-old is in good health.
Israel TV's Channel 2, citing Western intelligence sources, said Arafat's illness affected his muscle control but not his mental condition. The television rebroadcast segments from an interview with Arafat conducted last week in which the Palestinian leader's lower lip quivered uncontrollably.The tremor is only one of the symptoms of his illness, Channel 2 reporter Yoram Binur said. He would not say what illness Arafat allegedly suffers from.
On Friday morning, Arafat posed for TV cameras, strolling on a beach, Binur said, adding that the photo opportunity was arranged to show that Arafat was healthy. In the footage, Arafat's face was calm and he strode briskly, surrounded by bodyguards.
Arafat was in Cairo when Friday evening's report was broadcast.
Binur said there were four contenders for Arafat's succession, including his deputy, Mahmoud Abbas; the senior PLO official in Jerusalem, Faisal Husseini; Palestinian Parliament Speaker Ahmed Qureia; and Farouk Kaddoumi, a PLO hardliner who remained in exile after Arafat signed the peace agreements with Israel.
Behind-the-scenes contacts have begun to pick a successor, with the aim of having a peaceful succession, the TV said.
An emissary from Arafat's Fatah faction has been sent to Jordan and to Tunisia, the previous PLO headquarters, to discuss the issue, the report said.
Arafat has never groomed a successor, and a switch in the Palestinian leadership would add to the uncertainties in Mideast peacemaking, which has been in a deep crisis for months.
Arafat's West Bank security chief, Jibril Rajoub, dismissed the report as baseless. "Abu Amar is as healthy as a horse," Rajoub said, using Arafat's nom de guerre.