Arafat ingested deadly polonium: Swiss lab report

The Palestinian leader died in November 2004.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat ingested lethal radioactive polonium before his death nine years ago,and it could not have been by accident,Swiss scientists said Thursday.

The Swiss lab examined Arafats remains and his underclothes and a travel bag that he had with him in the days before his death in a Paris hospital and found that the polonium and lead amounts could not be naturally occurring. The timeframe of his illness and death were also consistent with polonium poisoning,they said.

You dont accidentally or voluntarily absorb a source of polonium its not something that appears in the environment like that, said Patrice Mangin,director of the laboratory. He said he could not say unequivocally what killed Arafat the biological samples obtained just last year were far too degraded.

Palestinian officials have alleged from the start that Israel poisoned Arafat,a claim Israel denies.

Suha Arafat,his widow,called on the Palestinian leadership Thursday to seek justice for her husband.

Speaking to AP by phone from the Qatari capital Doha,she did not mention Israel,but argued that only countries with nuclear capabilities have access to polonium.

I cant accuse anyone,but its clear this is a crime,and only countries with nuclear reactors can have and do that, she said. Now the ball is in the hands of the Palestinian Authority. They can resort to international legal institutions and international courts, she added.

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Francoi Bochud,a radiophysicist involved in the report,said polonium can be obtained with authorization. In that form,just a minuscule amount slipped into food or drink would be lethal within a month.

The Palestinian leader died in November 2004.

Killer agent

What is Polonium?

Polonium-210 is one of the worlds rarest elements,discovered in 1898 by scientists Marie and Pierre Curie. It occurs naturally in very low concentrations in the Earths crust and also is produced artificially in nuclear reactors.

How dangerous is it?

Very. If ingested,it is lethal in extremely small doses.

Who has died from it?

In addition to Litvinenkos presumed death from polonium poisoning,some speculate that the Curies daughter Irene,who died of leukemia,may have developed the disease after accidentally being exposed to polonium in the laboratory.