The Swiss lab examined Arafat’s 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 don’t accidentally or voluntarily absorb a source of polonium - it’s 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 on Thursday to seek justice for her husband.
Speaking to The Associated Press 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 can’t accuse anyone, but it’s 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 have to find the tools and pursue the legal case. They can resort to international legal institutions and international courts,’ she added.
Francoi Bochud, a radiophysicist involved in the report, said polonium can be obtained with authorization, noting that his own lab receives it in liquid form for research.
In that form, Bochud said, just a minuscule amount slipped into food or drink would be lethal within about a month.
The Palestinian leader died in November 2004 at a French military hospital, a month after falling violently ill at his Israeli-besieged West Bank compound.
The 108-page report on the findings was published Wednesday by the Qatar-based satellite TV station Al-Jazeera. The station, along with Mrs. Arafat, had initiated the renewed investigation of Arafat’s death last year.
Earlier this year, Arafat’s grave was exhumed. The Swiss report said Arafat’s remains and burial soil contained elevated levels of polonium-210, a rare and lethal substance. Israeli officials vehemently denied any role in Arafat’s death. Paul Hirschson, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, dismissed the allegations as ‘hogwash.’
Former Israeli official Dov Weisglass said Israel had no motive to kill Arafat at a time when he had been sidelined and isolated.
‘You don’t accidentally or voluntarily absorb a source of polonium - it’s 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 on Thursday to seek justice for her husband.
Speaking to The Associated Press 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 can’t accuse anyone, but it’s 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 have to find the tools and pursue the legal case. They can resort to international legal institutions and international courts,’ she added.
Francoi Bochud, a radiophysicist involved in the report, said polonium can be obtained with authorization, noting that his own lab receives it in liquid form for research.
In that form, Bochud said, just a minuscule amount slipped into food or drink would be lethal within about a month.
The Palestinian leader died in November 2004 at a French military hospital, a month after falling violently ill at his Israeli-besieged West Bank compound.
The 108-page report on the findings was published Wednesday by the Qatar-based satellite TV station Al-Jazeera. The station, along with Mrs. Arafat, had initiated the renewed investigation of Arafat’s death last year.
Earlier this year, Arafat’s grave was exhumed. The Swiss report said Arafat’s remains and burial soil contained elevated levels of polonium-210, a rare and lethal substance. Israeli officials vehemently denied any role in Arafat’s death. Paul Hirschson, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, dismissed the allegations as ‘hogwash.’
Former Israeli official Dov Weisglass said Israel had no motive to kill Arafat at a time when he had been sidelined and isolated.