Palestinian authorities have received the reports of Swiss and Russian forensic investigations into the 2004 death of Yasser Arafat, an official said Tuesday, without disclosing the findings.The French report is not ready yet.
“The report was delivered” by the Swiss laboratory, said Tawfiq Tirawi, who heads the Palestinian investigation into Arafat’s death.
Official Palestinian news agency WAFA said a Russian team appointed by the Palestinian Authority also handed in its report on November 2 and that its conclusions would be made public in due course.
Some 60 samples were taken from the remains of the late Palestinian leader in November last year for a probe into whether he was poisoned by polonium.
A Russian official has already been quoted as saying that no polonium was found on their tissue samples.
So the PA, which has officially and repeatedly said Israel murdered Arafat from the beginning, is now the sole party that can decide what to do with the reports?
The PA will have a press conference saying that Arafat was murdered, the media will trumpet the headlines, and when the actual report leaks out a few months that casts doubt on their announcement the lie will already have been entrenched.