Subscription preferences
Al Jazeera English
What Killed Arafat?
-
1
50:39
Al Jazeera Investigates - What Killed Arafat?
by AlJazeeraEnglish 98,544 views
A nine-month investigation by Al Jazeera discovered rare, radioactive polonium on the ex-Palestinian leader's final belongings. The finding suggests that Arafat was poisoned with polonium, a rare, highly radioactive element. The polonium was found in blood, sweat, urine and saliva stains on his personal effects, and the levels recorded by forensic pathologists in Switzerland - who studied the items - do not occur naturally. Al Jazeera's Clayton Swisher reports.
-
2
4:52
Interview: The effects of Polonium
by AlJazeeraEnglish 5,022 views
A nine-month investigation by Al Jazeera has revealed that Yasser Arafat was in good health until he suddenly fell ill on October 12, 2004.
Further tests revealed that Arafat's final personal belongings -- his clothes, his toothbrush, even his iconic kaffiyeh -- contained abnormal levels of polonium, a rare, highly radioactive element.
Those personal effects, which were analyzed at the Institut de Radiophysique in Lausanne, Switzerland, were variously stained with Arafat's blood, sweat, saliva and urine.
The tests carried out on those samples suggested that there was a high level of polonium inside his body when he died.
So what does Polonium do to a person?
It is actually harmless when it's outside the body, but inside, it becomes one of the deadliest substances known.
An amount equivalent to the size of a particle of dust is lethal.
After being taken into the body, Polonium quickly gets into the blood stream. Then it bombards people's cells with millions of radioactive alpha particles.
It damages the organs - first the liver and the kidneys, causing jaundice. It damages the intestines, cuasing toxic shock syndrome. And finally, it attacks the heart.
Al Jazeera talks to David Barclay, a forensic scientist based in Edinburgh, Scotland. -
3
4:47
Arafat's death: Palestinian negotiator calls for international investigation
by AlJazeeraEnglish 7,271 views
Al Jazeera continues its investigation into Yasser Arafat's death.
Research revealed that Arafat may have been killed by ingesting one microgram of radioactive polonium-210, around eight years ago.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who was Arafat's chief negotiator, calls for an international investigation committee to further investigate the matter. -
4
5:27
What is Polonium-210?
by AlJazeeraEnglish 5,658 views
The final report from the Institute of Radiophysics in Lausanne, Switzerland, found abnormal levels of radioactive polonium on Arafat's belongings.
Polonium is a rare and highly radioactive element. It is found naturally in the atmosphere and in the earth's crust, though in miniscule quantities.
Live from Canberra is George Dracoulis, professor of Nuclear Physics at the Australian National University, who explains in greater detail what polonium 210 is, where it comes from, how it is produced and how it can potentially kill a human being. -
5
4:46
Arafat's death : The need for a probe?
by AlJazeeraEnglish 3,231 views
Al Jazeera speaks to Philip Alston, a professor of international law at New York University and also the UN's former special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.
-
6
9:47
Arafat's widow calls to exhume his body
by AlJazeeraEnglish 8,394 views
An Al Jazeera investigation has revealed that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat may have been killed by radioactive poison. Now his widow, Suha Arafat wants to have his body exhumed to try and discover what killed him.
-
7
3:21
Polonium poisoning suspected in Arafat's death
by AlJazeeraEnglish 7,490 views
An Al Jazeera investigation has revealed that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat may have been killed by radioactive poison.
Medical and scientific tests at top laboratories found high levels of polonium in his body when he died. Now his widow, Suha Arafat wants to have his body exhumed to try and discover what killed him.
Al Jazeera's Clayton Swisher reports. -
8
11:05
Extended interview with Mohammed Rashid
by AlJazeeraEnglish 1,527 views
An extended clip from our interview with Mohammed Rashid, a longtime adviser to Arafat, who talks about the last time he saw the late Palestinian leader.
-
9
11:59
Extended interview with Shlomo Ben Ami
by AlJazeeraEnglish 1,551 views
An extended interview with former Israeli foreign minister Shlomo Ben Ami, who talks about the campaign against Yasser Arafat and the logic behind Israel's targeted assassinations.
-
10
3:23
Tests hint at possible Arafat poisoning
by AlJazeeraEnglish 2,054 views
A nine-month investigation by Al Jazeera has discovered rare, radioactive polonium on ex-Palestinian leader's final belongings.
Most of it was "unsupported" polonium, an artificial type produced in nuclear reactors, according to forensic pathologists who studied his belongings. Polonium is the same chemical used to kill Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko in 2006.
