Jerusalem: Israel said on Thursday it did not poison Yasser Arafat, making the denial after the Palestinian leader's widow said Swiss forensic tests had proven he died from radioactive polonium poisoning in 2004.
"We never made a decision to harm him physically," Energy Minister Silvan Shalom, who in 2004 served as foreign minister and as a member of Israel's security cabinet, told Israel Radio.
"In my opinion, this is a tempest in a tea cup. But even if it was (poisoning), it certainly was not Israel. Maybe someone else inside had thoughts or an interest to do it."
In the occupied West Bank, a senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organization issued a new call for an international investigation into Arafat's death.
The Palestinian appeal was made after the Al-Jazeera news channel on Tuesday published a Swiss scientific report based on bone samples taken from his grave last November revealing unusually high levels of the deadly polonium isotope in his body.
"This matter warrants the formation of an international judicial body to look into it and hold accountable the perpetrator," Wasel Abu Yousef told Reuters.
"The one who had an interest in his death was the occupation (Israel)," he added.
Chief Palestinian peace negotiator Saeb Erekat made an appeal for an international tribunal over Arafat's death last year, when the Qatar-based news channel first disclosed the presence of the polonium on the late president's clothing.
"We never made a decision to harm him physically," Energy Minister Silvan Shalom, who in 2004 served as foreign minister and as a member of Israel's security cabinet, told Israel Radio.
"In my opinion, this is a tempest in a tea cup. But even if it was (poisoning), it certainly was not Israel. Maybe someone else inside had thoughts or an interest to do it."
The Palestinian appeal was made after the Al-Jazeera news channel on Tuesday published a Swiss scientific report based on bone samples taken from his grave last November revealing unusually high levels of the deadly polonium isotope in his body.
Advertisement
"The one who had an interest in his death was the occupation (Israel)," he added.
Advertisement
© Thomson Reuters 2012
COMMENTS
Advertisement
Israeli Air Strike Kills Nine In Southern Lebanon "Far From Over" But Joe Biden Has High Hopes For Gaza Ceasefire US Warns Iran Faces "Cataclysmic" Consequences If It Strikes Israel Kolkata Rape-Murder: Fractures, 150 mg Semen, Other Claims Denied By Cops Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah To Be Prosecuted In Land Scam Case CBI Team At Kolkata Hospital For Digital Mapping Of Crime Scene Ram Charan And Upasana Level Up The Twinning Game In Chic All-Black Looks Video: Man Skis Off 18,753-Foot Himalayan Cliff, Shatters World Record Court Reserves Order On Summoning Lalu Yadav, Tejashwi In Land For Job Case Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.