British Prime Minister Tony Blair arrives in Washington this week for two days of talks with President Bush that will include the prospects for peace in the Middle East following what could be an Yasser Arafat’s death.
Blair, who last week called the Middle East conflict the world’s “single most pressing challenge,” is slated for meetings on Thursday and Friday to discuss a host of issues, including terrorism and Iraq, the White House said yesterday.
Speculation continued to fly around the condition and fate of the Palestinian leader, who is hospitalized in Paris suffering from a mystery illness. Palestinian officials insist he may yet recover.
Samples of his blood were sent yesterday to the U.S. for tests, Al-Jazeera reported this morning.
While Arafat remained in critical condition surrounded by family, including his wife Suha, and close aides, militants in Gaza, where six Palestinians were killed yesterday, called on Palestinians to unite behind their stricken leader.
Senior Arafat adviser Nabil Abu Rudeina said that despite “Arafat’s critical state of health . . . his condition is not irreversible.
While Palestinian leaders denied reports that Arafat was brain dead, Israel’s largest daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said in an unconfirmed report that Arafat had emerged from his coma and was talking with his doctors.
“The president is not brain dead,” said Palestinian Negotiations Minister Saeb Erakat. “His brain and heart are functioning. He is not living off machines.”
Amid the conflicting reports, sources in Jerusalem said that Palestinian and Israeli officials were negotiating over Arafat’s eventual burial location.
Palestinians are insisting on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, which Israel rejects. Israelis are pushing for the Gaza Strip, where several of his family members are buried, the sources said.
With Chris Michaud, Post Wire Services