Special report: Concern mounts over Yasser Arafat's health

    JERUSALEM, Nov. 11 (Xinhuanet) -- The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began Thursday morning to implement its "New Leaf" plan, which outlines emergency measures to be taken in the hours following Yasser Arafat's death.

    Arafat, 75, died at 3:30 a.m. (0230 GMT) Thursday at the Percy military hospital in the southwestern suburb of Paris, where he had been treated for a blood disorder during the past two weeks.

    In accordance with the first stage of the plan, roadblocks were erected Thursday morning around major Palestinian population centers in the West Bank and Gaza.

    The entire West Bank was also placed under closure Thursday morning, Israel Radio reported, adding that the Gaza Strip was already subject to the same measure. 

    IDF troops will also move to isolate Jerusalem from the West Bank city of Ramallah during Arafat's burial service there after a funeral ceremony in Cairo on Friday. Enditem