Arafat in Coma Between Life and Death
Yasser Arafat lay in a coma “between life and death” on Friday as senior Palestinian officials met to consider a future without him. Palestinian envoy to France Leila Shahid denied the Palestinian president, in a French military hospital on the outskirts of Paris, was brain dead and said he was in a reversible coma. But back home, 14 Palestinian factions met in a show of unity meant to avoid strife in a possible power vacuum. Arafat has not named a successor and his illness has raised fears of chaos among Palestinians waging a 4-year-old uprising for an independent state next to Israel.Full Story