Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. Palestinian Investigator: Israel 'Only Suspect' in Arafat's Death A Palestinian investigator says Israel is the "first, fundamental and only suspect" in the death of President Yasser Arafat, after Swiss scientists said there was moderate evidence he was poisoned with a radioactive substance. Tawfik Tirawi, the chief Palestinian investigator looking into Mr. Arafat`s death, told reporters Friday in Ramallah that the investigation will continue. He called Mr. Arafat`s death the "crime of the 21st century." The comments after Swiss forensic scientists said they found "moderate" backing for the idea that the Palestinian leader was poisoned by lethal radioactive polonium. The Swiss lab could not confirm the cause of Mr. Arafat`s death. But it said quantity of the substance found on his remains and belongings was so high that it could not have been there by accident. Palestinian officials have long alleged that Israel poisoned Mr. Arafat. Israel has always denied that it played any role in Mr. Arafat`s death, and repeated that statement Thursday. Forensic experts from France and Russia also took samples from Mr. Arafat`s corpse in 2012. Moscow has said its examination found no traces of polonium, while results from the French analysis have not yet been released. Mr. Arafat fell ill in October 2004 and was airlifted to France days later, after he failed to respond to treatment from a team of medical specialists from the Middle East. In early November, he lapsed into a gradually deepening coma, and died November 11. His widow, Suha, is calling on the Palestinian leadership to seek justice for her husband. Speaking from Doha, Qatar, on Thursday, she told a reporter that only countries with nuclear capabilities have access to polonium. She did not specifically mention Israel. The findings from specialists at the University of Lausanne were released Wednesday in a 108-page report and posted online by the al-Jazeera television network, which commissioned the study, together with Suha Arafat. The Swiss document appears to provide the first clear-cut sign that Mr. Arafat did not die of natural causes. But its authors framed their analysis cautiously, saying the results "moderately support the proposition" that polonium-210 - a colorless, odorless and nearly impossible to detect isotope - killed him. The Swiss analysis took into account the time lapse since Mr. Arafat`s death and the nature and quality of the specimens examined. __________________________________________________________________ [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/palestinian-investigator-israel-only- suspect-in-arafats-death/1786202.html References 1. http://www.voanews.com/content/palestinian-investigator-israel-only-suspect-in-arafats-death/1786202.html