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Enlarge PhotoPalestinian leader Yasser Arafat
French prosecutors have opened a murder enquiry into Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's 2004 death near Paris following claims he may have died of polonium poisoning, sources close to the matter told AFP Tuesday.
The probe comes after Arafat's family launched legal action in France last month following reports the veteran Palestinian leader may have died from radioactive polonium.
Arafat's widow Suha and his daughter Zawra lodged a murder complaint on July 31 in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. Arafat died at age 75 at a military hospital near Paris in 2004.
France opens enquiry into claims of Arafat poisoning - Yahoo! News
"A judicial murder enquiry has been opened, as expected following the complaint from Mrs. Arafat," a source close to the matter told AFP. Another source confirmed the probe had been opened.
The Palestinian Authority hailed the move.
"We welcome this decision and (Palestinian) president Mahmud Abbas has officially asked French President Francois Hollande to help us to investigate the circumstances of the martyrdom of late president Arafat," senior Palestinian official Saeb Erakat told AFP in Ramallah.
Allegations that the Nobel Peace laureate was poisoned were resurrected last month after Al-Jazeera news channel broadcast an investigation in which experts said they found high levels of polonium on his personal effects.
French prosecutors have opened a murder enquiry into Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's 2004 death near Paris following claims he may have died of polonium poisoning, sources close to the matter told AFP Tuesday.
The probe comes after Arafat's family launched legal action in France last month following reports the veteran Palestinian leader may have died from radioactive polonium.
Arafat's widow Suha and his daughter Zawra lodged a murder complaint on July 31 in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. Arafat died at age 75 at a military hospital near Paris in 2004.
France opens enquiry into claims of Arafat poisoning - Yahoo! News
"A judicial murder enquiry has been opened, as expected following the complaint from Mrs. Arafat," a source close to the matter told AFP. Another source confirmed the probe had been opened.
The Palestinian Authority hailed the move.
"We welcome this decision and (Palestinian) president Mahmud Abbas has officially asked French President Francois Hollande to help us to investigate the circumstances of the martyrdom of late president Arafat," senior Palestinian official Saeb Erakat told AFP in Ramallah.
Allegations that the Nobel Peace laureate was poisoned were resurrected last month after Al-Jazeera news channel broadcast an investigation in which experts said they found high levels of polonium on his personal effects.