Yasser Arafat’s tomb swiftly resealed after medics take samples from his body

Palestinians witnessed the funeral of their hero and long-serving leader eight years ago, but conspiracy theories surrounding his death have never been quieted.

Many people are convinced their icon was assassinated, and may stay convinced of this whatever the outcome of this post-mortem examination. But some in the city of Ramallah, where his body now lies, deplored the exhumation.

Ahmad Yousef, 31, a construction worker, said: “This is wrong. After all this time, today they suddenly want to find out the truth? They should have done it eight years ago.”

Mr Arafat’s body was uncovered in its grave and samples were removed without lifting the corpse from the ground. As a result, the planned reburial ceremony with full military honours was called off.

The tomb was resealed within hours and wreaths were placed by Palestinian leaders, including prime minister Salam Fayyad.

In August, French magistrates opened a murder inquiry into Mr Arafat’s death after a Swiss institute said it had discovered high levels of polonium on clothing of his supplied by his widow, Suha, for a television documentary. Mr Arafat died in Paris in 2004.

The head of the Palestinian investigation committee, Tawfiq Tirawi, said the forensic procedure went smoothly. A Palestinian medical team took samples and passed them on to Swiss, French and Russian research teams.

Mr Tirawi said: “We need proof in order to find those who are behind this assassination and take it to the ICC [International Criminal Court]. When we have proof, we will go to the ICC.”

Mr Arafat died in a French hospital aged 75 after a short, mysterious illness. No post-mortem was carried out at the time, at the request of Suha, and French doctors who treated him said they were unable to determine the cause of death.