MOSCOW, Oct. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- The planned visit of Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath to Russia this week has been canceled, a diplomatic source was quoted as saying here Thursday.

    "Shaath was planning to visit Moscow, but now the visit will not take place," the Interfax news agency cited the unnamed sourceas saying, without specifying the reasons.

    During the scheduled visit, Shaath was to discuss with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov the situation in the Middle Eastand ways of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

    The cancelation report comes as speculation rises over the rumored deterioration of the health of Palestinian National Authority (PNA) chairman Yasser Arafat.

    However, Arafat's spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh on Thursday denied rumors that the Palestinian leader was critically ill saying he was in a stable condition and needed only a few days to recover. Enditem