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Ramallah: Former French President Jacques Chirac knows what killed Yasser Arafat and should make it public, an ex-Arafat aide said yesterday, reiterating that he believes his boss was poisoned by Israel.
Arafat died on November 11, 2004, after being treated in a French military hospital. Bassam Abu Sharif told reporters yesterday - on what would have been Arafat's 78th birthday - that Chirac and Arafat's French doctors know the real cause of death but decided to withhold it from the public for fear of further destabilising the Middle East.
Abu Sharif said he believes Israel killed Arafat with a substance that destroys red blood cells. Asked for proof, he said he would reveal his sources if Chirac publicly denies his allegations. Israel has vehemently denied involvement in Arafat's death.
Abu Sharif spoke several days after a senior Hamas leader in Gaza, Mahmoud Zahar, alleged that Arafat was killed in a conspiracy between Israel and Palestinians close to Arafat.
Zahar cited a 2002 letter in which Abu Sharif urged Arafat only to accept food and drink from people he trusted. Abu Sharif said yesterday that in the letter, he was referring to Israel's 34-day siege of Arafat's compound in 2002. At the time, he said, Israeli forces inspected food shipments to Arafat and had an opportunity to tamper with them.
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