Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei will head to Gaza on Friday to meet officials over the situation following reports that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's health had deteriorated, Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said Thursday.  

Qurei will attend a meeting, which groups 13 Palestinian factions, including Arafat's mainstream Fatah Movement, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and the Islamic Jihad Movement (Holy War), Shaath said.

The meeting will discuss the situation in the West Bank and Gaza after a possible death of Arafat, said a Palestinian source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The source said the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) was making efforts not to leave any political vacuum after Arafat's death, which may cause chaos and anarchy in the Palestinian territories.

Shaath reiterated that Arafat was still alive while a French medical source said Thursday that Arafat is "brain dead."

French RFI television quoted the source as saying that Arafat is prolonged in "very deep coma of stage IV" thanks to life support machines and such artificial care can be "extended for several days or several weeks thanks to the machines."

Self-control, collective leadership called in Arafat's absence

Tayeb Abdel Rahim, Arafat's bureau chief, called on Thursday upon the Palestinians to show self-control, patience, steadfastness and national unity in the absence of Arafat.

"We call upon our people to stop listening and following rumors published by the media about President Arafat's health ... All of us should pray for his quick recovery," he said in a statement to reporters in Ramallah following reports that Arafat's health deteriorated.

"All reports that President Arafat in clinical death are untrue and not accurate," said Abdel Rahim, adding that "the Palestinian leadership is following in concerns moment after moment the situation."

The official said all leading Palestinian corporations and institutions would be in open-ended meetings. "We would brief our people on every development concerning the president's health," he added.

Meanwhile, Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine called on Thursday for an immediate formation of a collective leadership.

The collective leadership must include all Palestinian national and Islamic factions to fill any power vacuum that would emerge after the death of Arafat, the two groups said in a joint statement.

The statement came amid fears fed by speculations on a possible death of Arafat that an internal power struggle would emerge in the Palestinian territories since Arafat had appointed no successor yet.

Palestinian officials blast Israel's media report on Arafat's health

Israel's Television Channel 2 reported on Thursday night that Arafat had died, which was immediately denied by Qurei, saying that Arafat is still alive and getting treatment at Percy Hospital in France.

A Palestinian envoy accused Israel of trying to break the will of the Palestinians by launching a "propaganda war" over Arafat's health conditions.

"We don't know why Israel is so intent on launching this war of propaganda, constantly saying President Arafat is in critical conditions," Mohamed Sobeih, a permanent Palestinian representative to the Cairo-based Arab League, told Xinhua in a telephone interview.

"All Israeli measures will fail in the end because the will of the Palestinians just cannot be broken," he said.

Abbas Zaki, member of Arafat's Fatah Movement central committee also said, "the Israeli media reports were aimed at causing confusion and horror among the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank."

Israeli police, prisons raise level of alert

Israeli police and prisons raised the level of alert Thursday night following conflicting reports that Arafat may be dead, according to media reports in Jerusalem.

Police were quoted as saying that they have prepared a plan named "a different reality," which projected different scenarios that may happen after Arafat's demise.

In case an official statement is released announcing Arafat's death, Israel police will be kept on level three alert, meaning a strengthening of forces throughout the country in preparation for any possible scenario.

On news of the deterioration of Arafat's health conditions, the Israeli Prison Service Authority beefed up security and raised the alert in prisons throughout the country.

Meanwhile, intelligence officers were instructed to monitor carefully the 4,000 Palestinian security prisoners held in Israel.

(Xinhua News Agency November 5, 2004)