Ma'an independent Palestinian news agency: British forensic experts showed Arafat was poisoned

"The special advisor to Yasser Arafat said Monday that he will soon release new information on the death of the late president. In an interview with Ma'an Radio, Bassam Abu Sharif said research conducted by British forensic experts had revealed that Arafat was poisoned with thallium. New information had also come to light, Abu Sharif said, adding that he would present it to an investigation committee. Abu Sharif said he had warned the president to remain alert for Israeli assassination attempts. In 2004, Arafat fell ill while besieged by the Israeli military in his Ramallah headquarters. He was flown to Paris for treatment and died at Percy Hospital on 11 November 2004. The Guardian newspaper quoted a medical report by French doctors identifying disseminated intravascular coagulation as the cause of the president's death. DIC is a secondary condition however, and the ultimate cause of death was never revealed. In the months preceding Arafat's death, Israeli officials had publicly contemplated assassinating the leader, fueling speculation that he was murdered."