Yasser Arafat's newphew, Nasser al-Kidwa reviewed the 558 page medical dossier of the late PA Chairman and said there was no definite or clear cause of death that could be determined. Al-Kidwa admitted there was no evidence of any known poison in Arafat's system, but he still refused to rule out that possibility.

The statement would seem to fuel rumors rather than put the issue to rest. Terrorist groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad have encouraged baseless rumors that Arafat was poisoned by the Israelis.

'Because of the lack of clear diagnosis, a question mark remains there (about why Arafat died). Personally I believe it will remain there for some time to come,' al-Kidwa said.
He then added, 'In all cases, I believe that the Israeli authority is largely responsible for what happened, at least because of the confinement of the late president to (his headquarters) in very bad conditions for three years.'

Israel indicated that even during his confinement to his Ramallah headquarters, Arafat had access to medical care, electricity and running water.

Palestinian officials indicated that the medical dossier would be passed along to doctors in the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Egypt and Tunisia for further study.