October 22, 2003	Wednesday	Sha’aban 25, 1424

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RAMALLAH, Oct 21: Doctors say Palestinian President Yasser Arafat will require surgery some time in the near future to remove gallstones but otherwise his health is fine, senior Arafat aides said on Tuesday.

The 74-year-old leader’s frail appearance in recent weeks had fuelled speculation that he may have anything from cancer to heart trouble and underlined political instability in the Palestinian Authority. Aides had dismissed the rumours.

“Arafat has recovered from a severe stomach infection but Egyptian doctors by chance found, during an examination last month, that he has gallstones which have to be removed at some point,” a senior Palestinian official who is close to Arafat told Reuters.

Palestinian officials said Arafat would refuse to leave his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah unless he had international guarantees that he would be able to return.

But an Arab diplomat said the operation was not urgent and that he would not have to leave his headquarters to have surgery, avoiding the risk of Israel refusing to allow him back..—Reuters