RAMALLAH, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- French and Swiss experts will jointly investigate the circumstances behind the death of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, an official said Saturday.
In November, the experts will arrive in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where Arafat's body has been lying since his death in 2004, said Abdullah Al-Basheer, a doctor in a Palestinian committee that oversees the investigation into Arafat's death.
Arafat passed away at a French hospital for an undisclosed or unknown reason.
In July, a report by Qatar-based Al-Jazeera satellite TV channel said a Swiss lab tested Arafat's personal belongings and found significant traces of radioactive polonium-210 on his clothes and toothbrush. The report revived debates about the possibility that Arafat was poisoned after two years of Israeli siege on his Ramallah compound.
"The French and Swiss experts will probe together and will cooperate in the investigation based on a request from the Palestinian National Authority (PNA)," Al-Basheer said.
Earlier this month, the PNA said the Lausanne-based Institute of Radiation Physics had agreed to take samples of Arafat's remains for additional examinations.
Arafat's widow, Suha, has filed a civil suit at a French court demanding investigation into her husband's mysterious death.
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