MIDDLE EAST Arafat travels to France for medical care
The Palestinian leader has a low platelet count, and the cause is undetermined.
VILLACOUBLAY, France (AP) -- Ailing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was brought to France today and rushed to a military hospital for treatment of a mysterious illness, which has forced him to leave his West Bank headquarters for the first time in nearly three years.
A French military jet that the government confirmed was carrying the 75-year-old Arafat landed at a military airfield outside Paris, and witnesses said he was quickly put on a helicopter and flown to the Hopital d'Instruction des Armees de Percy, southwest of the capital.
The facility is a military hospital with a major trauma center that also specializes in the treatment of blood disorders, said Christian Estripeau, head of communications for military health services.
Needs diagnostic tests
Arafat has been sick for the past two weeks and blood tests have revealed he has a low platelet count -- a possible symptom of leukemia or other cancers or a number of other maladies.
Doctors said they need to run more tests to find the cause.
Arafat's personal physician, Dr. Ashraf Kurdi, ruled out leukemia Thursday. However, an Arafat confidant, Dr. Ahmed Tibi, said today that "at this point, no possibility has been eliminated."
Platelets are blood components that aid in clotting. A low count can be caused by many medical problems, including bleeding ulcers, colitis, blood cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma, liver disease, lupus and chickenpox. The platelet count also can be low because of treatment with blood thinners.
Supporters
Outside the Percy hospital -- set on a hilltop with sweeping views of Paris -- a small group of Arafat supporters gathered, holding bouquets of flowers and waving Palestinian flags.
"I am waiting for Yasser Arafat to tell him that we are with him," said Fatima Mera, a 35-year-old French woman of Moroccan origin. "We hope he will leave here and continue the struggle for the Palestinian people."
Hours earlier, Arafat had a somber departure from his sandbagged Ramallah headquarters, seen off by a few hundred loyalists gathered on a rain-slicked tarmac -- in marked contrast to his triumphant arrival in the Palestinian lands a decade ago, when he held out the promise of statehood.
Departure from West Bank
At daybreak today, Arafat, wearing a gray fur hat and an olive-colored jacket, was helped into a Jordanian military helicopter outside his headquarters.
He looked pale and jaundiced, but tried to smile as loyalists whistled and chanted, "With our spirit and our blood, we will redeem you, Abu Ammar," using his nom de guerre. He was accompanied by his wife, Suha, 42, who had rushed to his side from exile in Paris.
For the past 21/2 years, Israel has refused to guarantee that if Arafat leaves Ramallah he will be allowed to return -- a refusal that kept the Palestinian leader pinned down in his compound.
But Israel, concerned it would be blamed if his health condition worsened, lifted the ban Thursday and promised to allow Arafat to come back from treatment.
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