Arafat to be moved to Ramallah hospital

The leader is fully awake today, a longtime friend said.
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) -- The ailing Yasser Arafat was to be moved from his compound to a hospital in the West Bank city of Ramallah today, Israeli security officials said.
Arafat's health took a turn for the worse Wednesday, after he vomited, collapsed and briefly lost consciousness. Today, a team of Jordanian doctors arrived at his compound.
Israeli officials confirmed that the Palestinian leader would be taken to a hospital in Ramallah, the first time in nearly three years he would be leaving his compound.
Aides urgently summoned doctors from Jordan and Egypt, and Arafat's wife, Suha, was en route to the West Bank from Tunisia to be by his side. Mrs. Arafat lives in Paris and has not seen her husband since 2001.
Today, Arafat performed pre-dawn prayers and had cornflakes for breakfast, said Monib al-Masri, a longtime friend of Arafat who visited the Palestinian leader today.
"He prayed and he is fully awake," al-Masri told The Associated Press.
Arafat has been confined to the sandbagged, partially demolished compound for more than two years. He has been kept inside both by occasional Israeli military blockades and by threats that he would not be allowed to return if he leaves.
Leadership
Arafat's illness sparked speculation about the continuity of Palestinian leadership.
An official in Arafat's office said the Palestinian leader had created a special committee composed of Qureia, former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, and Salim Zaanoun, head of the Palestinian National Council, to run the Palestinian Leadership Organization and the Palestinian Authority while he is ill.
But when asked if Arafat had set up such a committee, Arafat spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeneh said: "Nothing like that."
White House spokesman Scott McClellan, traveling in Michigan with President Bush, said U.S. officials were monitoring the situation.
In Israel, defense officials met today to prepare for the possibility of Arafat's death. Israel has drawn up contingency plans, including how to deal with possible riots and prevent Palestinian attempts to bury Arafat in Jerusalem.
Things to consider
The Israeli daily Haaretz reported today that Israel has marked a possible burial site for Arafat in the Jerusalem suburb of Abu Dis, in the West Bank, and has taken the location of the plot into consideration in planning the route of its West Bank separation barrier.
Speaking in radio and TV interviews, Israeli officials, who have ostracized Arafat as a leader tainted by terror, speculated about the repercussions should Arafat die.
A Palestinian Authority without Arafat could become a partner for peace, said Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. "We always said we would be willing to talk to a Palestinian leadership that would be willing once and for all to bring an end to the bloodshed," Shalom told Israel Radio.
Reports of illness
Arafat has been ill for two weeks, but reports about his ailment have varied widely.
Palestinian officials said he had the flu. Israeli officials speculated he might have stomach cancer, but two of his doctors said Wednesday a blood test and a biopsy of tissue from his digestive tract showed no evidence of that.
On Tuesday, a hospital official said Arafat was suffering from a large gallstone. The gallstone, while extremely painful, is not life-threatening and can be easily treated, the official said.
Dr. Ashraf Kurdi, head of the Jordanian team summoned to Ramallah, told The Associated Press he was given no details about Arafat's health.
"I tried to get a medical report from them. I couldn't get anything," said Ramallah, who arrived in the West Bank today.
Israeli officials speculated that Arafat had suffered a stroke. He has shown symptoms of Parkinson's disease since the late 1990s.
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.