Percy hospital describes Arafat's status as stable

An official in Paris Percy hospital where the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat is being treated said that the latter's health condition has not worsened, noting that his condition is stable in comparison with the recent medical report.

The person responsible for communication in the health department affiliates to the French army -- who made these statements on Friday evening, did not give the opportunity for 200 journalists who gathered to ask any detailed question on Arafat's health condition.

News reports in Paris said that this brief statement might mean that the Palestinian president has not clinically died as rumored on Thursday and still there are medical tests for the man but his situation is critical as confirmed by Palestine representative in France Laila Shaheed..

In the course of the internal Palestinian preparations to withstand any emergency, Shaath announced that the prime minister Ahmad Qurei' will meet on Saturday with the Palestinian groups in Gaza.

For his part, the spokesman for the Islamic resistance movement ( Hamas) Sami Abu Zahri said that the office of Qurei' contacted the leaderships of the movement in order to hold a meeting, noting that such a meeting aims at discussing conditions in light of Arafat's health condition.

Abu Zahri called for revitalizing Hamas previous proposal to form a united Palestinian leadership or any temporary collective formula, stressing the need of exerting all efforts in order to preserve the national unity in this critical phase.

The groups higher committee which includes 13 groups including Fatah, Hamas, the Islamic Jihad and the people and democratic fronts for the liberation of Palestine stressed in an emergency meeting on Friday at the headquarters Of the legislative council the need of maintaining national unity in case anything happens to Arafat.

In the same context the officials continued convening a series of meetings in the headquarters of the presidency in Ramullah and the office of the PLO executive committee secretary general Mahmoud Abbas who met with the prime minister Ahmad Qurei'.

For his part, member of the PLO executive committee Yasser Abed Rabbu explained that the Palestinian leadership has laid all arrangements for what might happen during the next hours and days.

The Palestinian leadership called on the Palestinians to abide by national unity under such critical conditions, while the Palestinian security departments were put in a state of alert in precaution of announcing the death of President Arafat.