FILE - In this Saturday, Oct. 2, 2004 file photo, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat pauses during an emergency cabinet session, at his compound, in the West Bank town of Ramallah. The widow of Yasser Arafat on Tuesday July 31, 2012 formally asked for a French investigation into his death, bringing a complaint of assassination weeks after raising new suspicions that the former Palestinian leader was poisoned before his 2004 death in a French military hospital. Earlier this month, Palestinian authorities gave final approval for Arafat's body to be exhumed. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen, File)
July 31, 2012 - 4:33 AM
PARIS - The widow of Yasser Arafat is formally asking for a French investigation into his death. Suha Arafat is bringing a complaint of assassination, though the filing does not name any individuals or governments.
Tuesday's filing comes weeks after Palestinian authorities gave final approval for the former Palestinian leader's body to be exhumed; Suha Arafat recently raised new suspicions that he had been poisoned before his 2004 death in a French military hospital.
In recent tests of Arafat's belongings, a Swiss lab detected elevated traces of polonium-210 — a rare and highly lethal substance — but said the findings were inconclusive and that Arafat's bones would have to be tested.
A French judge will still have to decide whether to accept Suha Arafat's complaint and open an investigation.
News from © The Associated Press, 2012