Yasser Arafat's personal physician denies rumours about Palestinian leader's poor health

No impairment has been registered in Yasser Arafat's health condition, Dr. Ashraf al-Kurdi, a Jordanian neurologist and the Palestinian leader's personal physician, announced in Amman. Rumours about health problems that have allegedly been afflicting the Head of the Palestinian Authority lately were set afloat by the Italian "Panorama" weekly a few days ago.

In its latest issue the weekly alleges that the 72-year-old Palestinian leader has recently grown extremely nervous, which is making a detrimental effect on those around him. In addition, the "Panorama" claims that he has displayed signs of mental disorder. Italian journalists presume that it was these health problems that had prompted the US Administration to make conclusion about Arafat's withdrawal from the political arena in the near future as well as about the necessity to revamp the Palestinian leadership.