The relationship between Faruq al-Qaddumi, the head of the Political Department of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, PLO chief Yasser Arafat could be characterised as complex. Now, revelations from within this turbulent but durable alliance reveal how Arafat may have met his death and how those closest to him at the time tried to save him.
Here, Al Majalla reveals what happened in the wake of Arafat’s sudden death and how one of his longest-standing fellow leaders reacted to the news. We provide detailed insight into the events of November 2004, when Arafat died after falling ill in his Ramallah headquarters before being evacuated to France for medical treatment.
Arafat and al-Qaddumi had a close friendship during some vital and formative years in Cairo. They were partners in founding Fatah in the 1950s and helped legitimise it in the 1960s. But then came political disagreements on various issues—most notably over the Oslo Accords of the mid-1990s that tried to bring peace to Palestine. However, the disputes between the two men never escalated to the level of betrayal or the public exchange of harsh accusations.
Arafat’s death came some 11 years after the Oslo Accords – over which the two Palestinian leaders vehemently disagreed – when Arafat left what was a city still under siege despite the peace agreement.
Al-Qaddumi died last month in Amman, around 20 years after Arafat and over 50 years after Black September of 1970, in which Jordan and the PLO fought. This is the turbulent decade in which the story of Arafat and Al-Qaddumi begins. Both men had been imprisoned in that fateful month of 1970 as the two sides clashed.
Al-Qaddumi had already played a crucial role in drafting the statement at the Arab Summit held in Rabat in November 1974, which recognised the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. As the head of the PLO’s politburo, he earned the informal title of foreign minister of the Palestinian cause. And Arafat was known throughout the Arab world as the figurehead of the cause.
Their status meant they had highly influential mutual friends. One of these allies—Egypt’s President Gamal Abdel Nasser, to whom they had introduced the PLO in the late 1960s—sent an officer to Jordan’s King Hussein to secure their release.
Al-Qaddumi headed to Beirut, where he remained until the Israeli invasion in 1982 when a siege of Lebanon’s capital aimed to expel Arafat. When the two men famously left Beirut, al-Qaddumi initially wanted to go to Syria instead of Tunisia, where both leaders ended up in 1983.
Read more: Secret documents detail Arafat's departure from Beirut
Al-Qaddumi was one of the few PLO leaders who survived assassination attempts by the Israelis, unlike his comrades Khalil al-Wazir and Salah Khalaf.
After the disagreements within the PLO over the Oslo Accords, peace negotiations with Israel failed in 2000 after al-Qaddumi had strongly opposed them.
Israel went on to impose another siege on Arafat, confining him to his Ramallah headquarters. It bombarded the compound with tank shells and accused Arafat of "inciting violence" after the collapse of Washington talks. The United States also boycotted Arafat, labelling him an "obstacle to peace."
Arafat became ill under siege. He left Ramallah for medical attention, only to die in a French hospital on 11 November 2004. Al-Qaddumi insisted that Arafat had been killed and stuck by his claim. He was offered the role of Palestinian Authority president but turned it down.
Two weeks after Arafat's death, al-Qaddumi visited Damascus to meet with Syrian officials and other Palestinian leaders, including Syrian Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam, PLO representative Mahmoud al-Khalidi, and the head of Islamic affairs in the politburo, Ihsan Salha. With the movement in flux, this list of attendees seems particularly significant. The mystery surrounding Arafat's death and the search for his successor weighed heavily on the attendees.
Post-death discussions
The minutes of the meeting – obtained by Al Majalla from Khaddam's papers, which he took with him to Paris in 2005 before announcing his defection later that year – reveal significant details about the circumstances surrounding Arafat's death.
There is also insight into Damascus's involvement in selecting his successor, even as the importance of independent Palestinian decision-making was stressed.
Al-Qaddumi began the conversation with the words, "Yasser Arafat died and passed away with all his good and bad qualities."
Khaddam responded that "the late leader was a giant of Arab politics, and he is fortunate that he did not sign anything that would have negatively impacted the Palestinian cause." He was alluding to Arafat's refusal to sign the Camp David Accords in 2000.
Khaddam’s comments glossed over the substantial disagreements between Syria’s President Hafez al-Assad and Arafat in previous decades, including during the siege of Beirut and the expulsion of Palestinian leaders from the Lebanese capital to Tunisia, as well as during the signing of the Oslo Accords.
Previously, Palestinian leaders politically close to Damascus and living there had taken positions opposing Arafat. During the meeting, Khaddam asked al-Qaddumi how the PLO leader had died, to which he replied: "Arafat had experienced a similar condition a year earlier (in 2003), and it was said in Egypt that he had the flu, but doctors in Tunisia disagreed with this diagnosis."
“They provided us with a medical biopsy and informed us that he was suffering from thrombocytopenia and was experiencing frequent episodes, which started to affect his mind. About two weeks after his illness began, a Tunisian doctor named Ashraf al-Kurdi from the Tunisian delegation asked me: ‘Do you have the means to treat this condition?’ I said no. He advised us to move him."
“We contacted France that evening, and President Jacques Chirac sent a plane that took him to France."
Khaddam asked what was France's view on the cause of death, to which al-Qaddumi replied, "They reported that his condition was positive—no chemical issues, no immune deficiency, no blood or brain cancer. They examined him organ by organ. It was clear he was poisoned."
Khaddam: "So, there is no cause other than poison, but they don't mention this to avoid affecting France's relations with America and Israel."
Al-Qaddumi: "There was nothing wrong with his lungs, intestines, liver, or any other part of his body. Twenty-five French doctors, along with two Palestinian doctors from America who specialised in blood and five Tunisian doctors whom we brought in after his death, all examined him. They did not provide us with any conclusive findings."
“They mentioned that they were surprised by his condition—he would faint and then wake up as if nothing was wrong. Meanwhile, Israeli radio was broadcasting that he would not be buried in Jerusalem and that he was experiencing fainting spells."
"A few days before this, during my visit to Arafat with Mohammed Ghoneim, I told Ghoneim I needed to know the cause. I contacted various Arab countries and mentioned that Arafat's condition was similar to that of Khaled Mashaal (the head of Hamas’ politburo), and we needed an antidote.
"Arab leaders reached out to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who then contacted Qatar and the United States. (Former US President George) Bush said: 'He is fine'. An Arab leader explained to me that Israel controls America."
Al-Qaddumi was convinced Arafat was poisoned and began his search for an antidote similar to the one used to save Mashal's life after being poisoned in an Israeli assassination attempt in Amman in September 1997. At the time, King Hussein of Jordan led the push to obtain the antidote. It was part of a broader deal that included the release of Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin, who Israel later assassinated in March 2004.
Arafat's final days
Al-Qaddumi went on to give Khaddam an account of Arafat’s final days: "Chirac visited Arafat, spoke with him, and said his condition was stable. But a few days later, statements emerged claiming he was in a coma. When I called Dr. Ashraf, I asked if he would come. He said ‘no’. I asked his wife and those around him about his health, and they said: ‘There's nothing wrong with him’.
“The doctor treating him suggested sending the blood to all the test centres. He had been treating Arafat for a long time. I asked his wife for a medical report, and she agreed it was necessary. I left Paris but later contacted her because of her statements about removing Arafat's medical devices. The reason behind her statement was that Nasser al-Kidwa (Arafat's nephew and former foreign minister) suggested: ‘Since there’s no hope, let’s move him to Egypt so he can see his family’.
“But, I told him that wasn't right. Nevertheless, since he was a relative, he had the final say. Then, we heard that she accused them of removing the devices. I issued a statement denying her comments to calm the situation."
"Two days later, she told me: 'He is dying; don’t you want to see him?' I said, no, I don’t want to. They were sedating him to take blood samples because Arafat would get angry, hit the doctor, and demand to leave."
Arafat was declared dead at the age of 75 in a French military hospital near Paris. His official cause of death was recorded as a stroke. But ever since, questions have lingered over the cause of his death.
Arafat had fallen ill after a meal that caused severe stomach pain. French doctors stated that they could not determine the exact cause of his illness, and no autopsy was conducted.
In 2011, Arafat’s widow, Suha, was given access to his medical records and his clothes from his final days, previously in the possession of Swiss forensic scientists. They reported finding traces consistent with polonium-210 poisoning. However, French and Russian experts later concluded that Arafat had not died from poisoning.
Suha still maintains her husband was assassinated. Israel denies this.
Search for successor
In the official transcript of their meeting, Khaddam and al-Qaddumi also discussed who would succeed Arafat as leader of the PLO.
Khaddam: "Now what? Have you made internal arrangements?"
Al-Qaddumi: "The Americans said: ‘We don’t want to negotiate with this hardliner’. Some have bet on discord. As for me, I am unacceptable to the Americans. I advocated for the nomination of Mahmoud Abbas, and they agreed. We were too embarrassed to raise doubts within Fatah, and it was necessary to consolidate the forces within Fatah. Ruhi Fattouh was named President of the Palestinian Authority."
"I suggested that since the temporary constitution had been approved, which states that the Speaker of the Legislative Council should assume power if the President of the Authority dies, and if you want to change it so that one of our younger members takes over, let these 60 days pass peacefully and then nominate him."
“Mahmoud Abbas will assume power, and then you can approve whatever changes you see fit. The leadership within (Fatah) acted wisely, and this transition was successfully achieved."
Khaddam: "You acted wisely, and had there been disputes over the legacy, both you and what remains of the Palestinian cause could have been lost. The choice of Mahmoud Abbas was a natural one. As for you, they will not negotiate with you. I believe that Abbas has a perspective, not a deviation, and the crucial thing is to avoid being drawn into internal Palestinian discord, as any internal conflict will be costly for everyone involved."
“You must unite to preserve your cause; you are fighting Zionism at a time when you lack support from the Arab world ... The key to success is your cohesion, and I do not believe that any of the historical figures in Fatah would compromise on rights. Our duty is to assist you and support you."
The discussion then turned to the specifics of the dialogue between Fatah and Hamas and the formation of the PLO's Executive Committee.
