PARIS — French scientists looking into the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat have dismissed poisoning by radioactive polonium, his widow announced on Tuesday. The results contradict earlier findings by a Swiss lab, and mean it's still unclear how Arafat died nine years ago.
Teams of scientists from three countries were appointed to determine whether polonium played a role in his death in a French military hospital in 2004. Palestinians have long suspected Israel of poisoning him, which Israel denies.
After a 2012 report that traces of radioactive polonium were found on Arafat's clothing, Arafat's widow filed a legal complaint in France seeking an investigation into whether he was murdered.
As part of that investigation, French investigators had Arafat's remains exhumed and ordered genetic, toxicology, medical, anatomical and radiation tests on them. Suha Arafat and her lawyers were notified Tuesday of the results, less than a month after the Swiss team issued their report.
The French experts found traces of polonium but came to different conclusions than the Swiss about where they came from, finding that it was “of natural environmental origin,” Suha Arafat said.
The French finding “dismisses the hypothesis of poisoning by polonium-210,” she said.
The Swiss scientists said they found elevated traces of polonium-210 and lead, and that the timeframe of Arafat's illness and death was consistent with poisoning from ingesting polonium.
