GAZA (Sputnik) — Palestinian authorities will continue their probe into the death of former leader Yasser Arafat despite France’s call to drop the case, Palestine’s investigative commission chairman Tawfiq Tirawi said Thursday.
On Tuesday, a French prosecutor urged to close the case of Arafat’s alleged assassination in 2004, saying the 75-year-old died of natural causes. French and Russian experts have found no traces of toxic substances in his remains or on personal belongings.
"The national commission confirms its intent to carry on with the investigation into the death of late leader Arafat and continue its work despite third-party research and judgment of other countries, including France," he said in a statement.
Yasser Arafat, one of the most prominent figures of the Palestinian independence movement, died at a military hospital in France. In 2012, his widow called for an additional inquiry into the former leader’s death after an investigation by Al Jazeera earlier found "significant" traces of radioactive isotope polonium-210 on some of Arafat’s personal items.
