MIDDLE EAST Arafat travels to Paris for medical care

Arafat's illness has left Palestinians wondering what life will be like without him.
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) -- Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat traveled to Paris for urgent treatment of a serious illness today, breaking free from nearly three years of Israeli-imposed confinement at his battered compound, but leaving behind a people in disarray.
Arafat's somber departure -- a few hundred loyalists gathered on a rain-slicked tarmac -- stood in marked contrast to his triumphant arrival in the Palestinian lands a decade ago, when he held out the promise of statehood.
At daybreak today, the 75-year-old leader, 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.
"I will be back soon, God willing. I'll see you soon," Arafat told aides during a stopover at a Jordanian military base, according to Ata Kheiry, deputy chief of the Palestinian mission in Jordan.
Source of illness unclear
Arafat has been sick for the past two weeks and blood tests have revealed he has a low platelet count, but 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."
In lifting its travel ban, Israel promised to allow Arafat to return.
However, Palestinians were beginning to consider how their world would look without Arafat, the only leader they have known for nearly four decades.
The last photos taken of Arafat in the West Bank underscored his transformation from leader to patient. They showed him in a wheelchair, holding his doctors' hands and wearing a blue jogging suit and a stocking cap, instead of his trademark military fatigues and checkered head scarf. He had spent most of Thursday sleeping, was too weak to stand and unable to hold down food.
From Ramallah, Arafat was flown to a Jordanian military base, where he was transferred to a French hospital plane. He was to arrive in Paris around midday today.
Mixed feelings
Palestinians watched their leader's departure with mixed feelings.
Many have been frustrated by his corruption-tainted rule and failure to resolve four years of fighting with Israel. However, he has been a unifying force, and many feared his departure could unleash a possibly bloody power struggle.
Senior Palestinian officials were to hold a first round of meetings to discuss the situation Saturday, but Arafat has persistently refused to appoint a successor and did not name a stand-in during his absence.
A change in leadership could transform the Palestinians' relations with Israel. The Israeli and U.S. governments have refused to deal with Arafat, saying he was fomenting terror and is not a partner for peace. The European Union has said Arafat cannot be ignored, since he is the Palestinians' elected leader.