Arafat 'had cirrhosis'

The late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat suffered from cirrhosis of the liver, but his death last week was not caused by alcohol, yesterday's issue of the French satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaine says.

Citing doctors who "had access" to Arafat and his file, the paper said that from Arafat's admission to a French military hospital near Paris, the medical team "suspected serious hepatic lesions" that could affect the content of his blood.

Leukaemia was quickly ruled out. "The most likely scenario is that there were multiple causes of death. His coma was probably caused by the aggravation of his liver condition. And to finish off, there was the haemorrhaging."