Inquiry Is Ordered Into Cause of Arafat’s Death

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Korei ordered an inquiry to determine the cause of death of former leader Yasser Arafat. The commission will take testimony from Palestinian and other Arab doctors in an effort to remove questions surrounding Arafat’s death in a French military hospital last week.

Citing privacy rules, the Percy military hospital has refused to publicly reveal the cause of death. French and Palestinian officials have played down speculation by some Palestinians that Arafat could have been poisoned.