Was Yasser Arafat Assassinated?

A report out of Switzerland suggests the deceased Palestinian leader may have been poisoned with polonium-210, the same radioactive substance used to kill former Russian FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko.

Arafat’s body was exhumed a year ago and a Swiss forensics team has concluded that testing of his remains “moderately support the proposition that the death was the consequence of poisoning with polonium-210.”

The Guardian has more:

David Barclay, a British forensic scientist who had studied the report, told al-Jazeera: “The report contains strong evidence, in my view conclusive evidence, that there’s at least 18 times the level of polonium in Arafat’s exhumed body than there should be.”

He said the report represented “a smoking gun”. Barclay said: “It’s what killed him. Now we need to find out who was holding the gun at that time,” adding: “I would point to him being given a fatal dose. I don’t think there’s any doubt at all.”

The Israeli government, however, dismissed the report. “The Swiss findings are not conclusive,” said Yigal Palmor, a foreign ministry spokesman.

“Even if they did find traces of polonium that could indicate poisoning, there’s no evidence of how that poisoning occurred. Before the Palestinian Authority jumps to conclusions, there are many questions still to be answered.

Arafat’s widow tells The Guardian she is certain her husband was poisoned and that she and her daughter will continue to look for a culprit.

— Posted by Peter Z. Scheer