Aide: Arafat health not in danger

Palestinian President Yasir Arafat is in stable condition, but needs rest, his senior advisor has said.

The Palestinian president has been down with flu

Contradicting an Israeli Radio claim that the Palestinian leader has lost consciousness, Arafat aide Nabil Abu Rudeneh told Aljazeera on Wednesday night that the 75-year-old president was fine.

“The president had a bad case of influenza and he is in need of some rest, but he is in good health and there is no danger,” said Rudeneh.

Rudeneh said a team of five Tunisian doctors were monitoring Arafat’s health.

Routine tests

“The Tunisians are only conducting routine tests,” he said.

Other Arafat aides also said the leader was fine and he had been observing the dawn-to-dusk fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Sources close to the Palestinian Authority said that Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmad Quraya was at Arafat’s bedside.

Arafat has been suffering from a severe bout of flu.

Source: Al Jazeera