PARIS, Nov. 8 (Xinhuanet) -- French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie confirmed Monday at French Europe 1 radio that Palestinian leaders have canceled their visit to ailing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Paris.

    The French minister refused to comment on Arafat's health as well as the cause of his ailment.

    Acting Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) leader Mahmud Abbas, Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath were due in Paris Monday to visit Arafat who is hospitalized in a French military hospital.

    They were making the trip as they were frustrated at the lack of information on the state of Arafat's health, French RFI television reported.

    However, they canceled the visit earlier Monday after the Arafat's wife Suha told the Doha-based Arabic-language Al Jazeera television that they "want to bury Arafat alive" to inherit his power.

    Suha is one of only a handful of people who have been authorized to see the 75-year-old Palestinian leader in the last 10 days.

    "Abu Ammar (Arafat) is doing well and will return home," but "Abbas, Qurei and Shaath, who are trying to inherit his power, wantto bury Arafat alive," she said.

    She also made an appeal to the Palestinian people. "A handful of (people) seeking to inherit power are coming to Paris to try and bury Abu Ammar alive. I ask you to look at the extent of the plot," she said.

    Arafat has been hospitalized in Percy military hospital in the southwestern Paris suburb of Clamart since Oct. 29 to diagnose hisreported "blood disorder." Enditem

File photo of Yasser Arafat. French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie announced Monday at French Europe 1 radio that Palestinian leaders have canceled their visit to ailing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Paris. (Xinhua file photo) Arafat and wife Suha Arafat.Suha insisted that her husband was on the road to recovery and would return home but "Abbas, Qureiand Shaath, who are trying to inherit his power, want to bury Arafat alive." Suha is one of only a handful of people who have been authorized to see the 75-year-old Palestinian leader in the last 10 days. (Xinhua file photo) Arafat's wife Suha Arafat accompanies him to France for treatment.  (Xinhua/AFP file photo) A little boy stands by a poster asking for the "Palestinian people's right of return to their homeland" outside the Percy military hospital in the Paris southwestern suburb of Clamart, 07 November 2004. The condition of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat remains unchanged in the military hospital where he has been in a coma since last 03 November, the medical service of the French army said today. Arafat was admitted for treatment for an unidentified blood disorder a nine days ago after being evacuated from his West Bank headquarters. (Xinhua/AFP Photo By Joel Robine) A journalist reads the news as people demonstrate their support to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat outside the Percy military hospital in the Paris southwestern suburb of Clamart, 07 November 2004. Journalists from all over the world have been waiting for more than a week for any information about Yasser Arafat's condition which remains unchanged according to the medical service of the French army. Arafat was admitted for treatment for an unidentified blood disorder a nine days ago after being evacuated from his West Bank headquarters and has been in a coma since last 03 November. (Xinhua/AFP Photo By Joel Robine) A picture of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is pined on a Moroccan flag outside the Percy military hospital in the Paris southwestern suburb of Clamart, 07 November 2004.  (Xinhua/AFP Photo By Joel Robine) Mahmoud Abbas (1st R), general secretary of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), chairs a meeting of the PLO Executive Committee in the West Bank city of Ramallah Nov. 6, 2004. Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said Sunday that preparatory works have completed on the Israeli side to bury Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Gaza in case of his death.(Xinhua photo/Gao Xueyu)

Palestinian leaders cancel visit to Arafat in Paris

       RAMALLAH, Nov. 8 (Xinhuanet) -- Palestinian leaders who had planned to visit ailing leader Yasser Arafat in Paris later Monday have
canceled their trip, head of Arafat's office Tayeb Abdel Rahim said.

       Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei, Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath and Mahmoud Abbas, No. 2 of the Palestine Liberation Organization, had
planned to head for Paris Monday.

       The cancellation came after Arafat's wife Suha Arafat accused them of traveling to Paris with plans to bury their leader "alive".

       Rahim told a press conference that the three Palestinian leaders wanted to go to France to give thanks to French President Jacques
Chirac and to get direct information about Arafat's condition from his doctors.

       Since Arafat has been transferred to the Percy Military Hospital outside Paris on Oct. 29, Qurei and Abbas have been sharing powers
to run the Palestinian daily affairs.

       The Qatar-based al-Jazeera satellite TV channel said earlier that Arafat's medical condition was critical, adding that "his
health condition can have all possibilities."

       In an interview with al-Jazeera, Suha insisted that her husband was on the road to recovery and would return home but "Abbas, Qurei and Shaath, who are trying to inherit his power, want to bury Arafat alive." 

       Suha is one of only a handful of people who have been authorized to see the 75-year-old Palestinian leader in the last 10 days. 
Enditem