Arafat's remains test may take a few months: source

RAMALLAH, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The testing of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's remains samples, which were taken from his tomb on Tuesday, would take a few months, a well-informed Palestinian source told Xinhua.

The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the samples were given to international experts who would take them to their countries for examination.

"According to an agreed protocol between the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and Swiss, French and Russian experts, they will take the remains to their countries for tests," said the source.

It added that the experts want to make sure whether the remains contain a radiated material called Plutonium.

"Seeing the results of their examinations may need a few months and the results will certainly be accurate," the source said.

The debates on the reason behind Arafat's death were renewed after Qatari based al-Jazeera news channel videoed a report in July saying that Arafat's clothes were detected with amounts of radiated Plutonium.

Arafat died of a "mysterious" disease in a French Hospital on Nov. 11, 2004.