Arafat found to have gallstone

By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH
The Associated Press

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RAMALLAH, West Bank — Yasser Arafat has a gallstone, a Palestinian hospital official said yesterday, as the weakened Palestinian leader broke his Ramadan fast and underwent more tests at the urging of his doctors.

The gallstone is not life threatening and can be easily treated, the official said.

Palestinian officials have insisted Arafat, 75, was recovering from a lengthy bout of the flu. However, a Palestinian doctor who has examined Arafat recently said he has been inexplicably exhausted in recent weeks. Israeli officials speculated he was suffering from stomach cancer.

Teams of Egyptian and Tunisian doctors have examined him in recent days. On Monday, he underwent an endoscopy, or exam of the digestive tract. And he has not led Muslim evening prayers at the makeshift mosque in his compound, as he has done in the past during the fasting month of Ramadan.

A hospital official said ultrasound and X-ray machines were brought to Arafat's compound two days ago to perform tests on his chest and stomach. The ultrasound uncovered a 1-centimeter-long gallstone that did not register on the X-ray.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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