RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian authorities on Tuesday opened Yasser Arafat's grave and foreign experts took samples from his remains as part of a long-shot attempt — eight years after the iconic leader's mysterious death — to determine whether he was poisoned, as relatives and some political successors have claimed.
The exhumation began before dawn, under the cover of huge sheets of blue tarpaulin draped over Arafat's mausoleum in his former government compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
By mid-morning, the grave was reclosed, said Tawfik Tirawi, a former Palestinian intelligence chief who heads the investigation into Arafat's death.
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Secretary General of the Palestinian Presidency Tayeb Abdel Rahim places a wreath of flowers at the tomb of Yasser Arafat during a ceremony Tuesday.
Arafat died in November 2004 at a French military hospital, a month after suddenly falling ill at his Ramallah compound, which was at the time besieged by Israeli troops. The immediate cause of death was a stroke, but the underlying reasons were unclear, leading to widespread belief in the Arab world that Israel poisoned the 75-year-old symbol of Palestinian nationalism.
Israel has denied involvement in Arafat's death.
An investigation was launched at the time, but it then lay dormant for years, only to be revived this summer when a Swiss lab detected elevated traces of a lethal radioactive substance, polonium-210, in biological stains on his clothing.
The lab said the tests were inconclusive and that it needed to examine the remains for a clearer picture. Arafat's successor, Mahmoud Abbas, authorized the exhumation despite strong cultural and religious taboos against disturbing a gravesite, apparently to avoid any suggestion that the current leadership was standing in the way of a thorough investigation.
Since mid-November, workers have been drilling through thick layers of concrete encasing the tomb.
The grave was opened before dawn Tuesday, according to a Palestinian official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the details of the exhumation with the media.
The official said some of the remains were moved to a nearby mosque, but that the team then encountered technical difficulties. He would not elaborate. The experts decided to return the remains to the grave and take the samples without moving what was left of the body, the official said.
The exhumation was attended by experts from Switzerland, France and Russia who will examine the samples in their home countries, the official said. Earlier, samples were also taken from Arafat's bedroom, office and personal belongings, he said.
Public reaction in the West Bank was mixed.
Experts exhume Arafat's remains, test for poison
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Experts exhume Arafat's remains, test for poison
