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11/13/2005:

"PLO Calls for UN Probe Into Arafat's Death"

DAMASCUS, Syria - A senior Palestinian official has called for a U.N. investigation into the death of Yasser Arafat, reiterating allegations that the Palestinian leader was poisoned by Israel.

Farouk Kaddoumi, head of the Palestine Liberation Organization's mainstream Fatah faction, said Arafat was poisoned by Israel "because he was a stumbling block to (Israeli) plans." Other Palestinians have made the same charge in the past and Israel has repeatedly denied it.

The PLO will ask the U.N. Security Council "to form an international investigating commission into the assassination of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat." Kaddoumi told reporters on Saturday.

Arafat died in a French hospital on Nov. 11, 2004 at age 75. The exact cause of death remains unknown, fueling persistent rumors that he was either poisoned or died of AIDS.

Kaddoumi was speaking in Damascus after meeting representatives of the Syria-based radical Palestinian factions opposed to the PLO's peace accords with Israel. He said all Palestinian groups are united in holding Israel fully responsible for Arafat's death.
news.yahoo.com