Israel Matzav

Surprise: Russian doctor confirms Arafat's body had no polonium

The head of Russia's Federal Medical-Biological Agency says that there is absolutely no way that Yasser Arafat could have been poisoned by polonium. No kidding.

Earlier today Russian News service Interfax earlier quoted FMBA (Russia's Federal Medical-Biological Agency) head Vladimir Uiba as saying he did not believe the report published in British Medical Journal,  The Lancet over the weekend saying that Swiss radiation experts had found traces of polonium on Arafat's clothing.

"He could not have been poisoned by polonium," Uiba told the Russian news agency.

"The Russian experts who conducted the investigation did not find traces of this substance."

Apparently he was not authorized to released the results yet as the FMBA quickly denied that Uiba had ever issued such a statement to Interfax.

"We have not publicized any official results of our forensic review," a spokesman for the agency told Agence France Presse by telephone, reading from an official statement.

"Neither have we publicly confirmed nor denied media reports about there being or not being polonium in Arafat's remains."

Notice there was no denial.

Even without the FMBA  fact is The Lancet report of polonium on Arafat’s “tighty whiteys” is an elaborate hoax. Polonium has a half-life of 138 days, which means every four-and-a-half months (give or take a day or two) only half of the radioactive substance would remains. The amount  suppossedly found on Arafat’s gown and boxers, eight years after his death translates to levels that would have also infected his doctors and wife during his last days. In other words the polonium was added more recently than eight years ago.

I'm shocked. Just shocked.... 

Labels: Yasser Arafat

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:48 PM