Arafat poisoned by Polonium

I guess there is no point in posting in a derailed thread like this. Oh well..pity, was a real interesting topic.
 
This is interesting, broadcast in Jan 2011

"According to Israel Radio, "A former Palestinian intelligence officer, attorney Fahmi Shabana, says that Yasser Arafat's political rivals were responsible for his death, and that he was poisoned with polonium. Shabana, who took part in the investigation into Arafat's death in a French hospital in 2004, said that several months after his death, the same cell murdered the head of military intelligence in Gaza, General Musa Arafat, a relative of the PLO leader, in order to prevent a blood feud. The lawyer called on Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas to reopen the investigation into Arafat's death."[137]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasser_Arafat#Polonium_found
 
abzo said:
http://www.news24.com/World/News/Arafat-poisoned-by-polonium-report-20120703



Why is it always Polonium?
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By mass, polonium-210 is around 250,000 times more toxic than hydrogen cyanide (the actual LD50 for 210Po is less than 1 microgram for an average adult (see below) compared with about 250 milligrams for hydrogen cyanide[53]). The main hazard is its intense radioactivity (as an alpha emitter), which makes it very difficult to handle safely. Even in microgram amounts, handling 210Po is extremely dangerous, requiring specialized equipment (a negative pressure alpha glove box equipped with high performance filters), adequate monitoring, and strict handling procedures to avoid any contamination. Alpha particles emitted by polonium will damage organic tissue easily if polonium is ingested, inhaled, or absorbed, although they do not penetrate the epidermis and hence are not hazardous as long as the alpha particles remain outside of the body. Meanwhile, wearing chemically resistant and "intact" gloves is a mandatory precaution to avoid transcutaneous diffusion of polonium directly through the skin. Polonium delivered in concentrated nitric acid can easily diffuse through inadequate gloves (e.g., latex gloves) or the acid may damage the gloves.

eltherza said:
So his belongings have Polonium on it and the immediate conclusion is that he was posioned by Polonium?
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Polonium is an extremely rare element in nature because of the short half-life of all its isotopes. It is unlikely to have just been there by coincidence....
 
joelus said:
Polonium is an extremely rare element in nature because of the short half-life of all its isotopes. It is unlikely to have just been there by coincidence....
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polonium#Neutron_capture

Worldwide production is around 100 grams a year, mostly from Russia, so like you say, not something that's just gonna end up on your clothes (unless of course, Arafat was handling it himself).
 
joelus said:
Polonium is an extremely rare element in nature because of the short half-life of all its isotopes. It is unlikely to have just been there by coincidence....
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Or maybe he was dealing it himself. Or maybe he liked his seafood. Or maybe he got a bad batch of tobacco. Or maybe he was experimenting with it. Or maybe somone else at the hospital was posioned with it and it contaminated his belongings.

My point is you can't just say "Yasser Arafat, who died in 2004, was poisoned by polonium" just because you detect it in his belongings.
 
eltherza said:
Or maybe he was dealing it himself. Or maybe he liked his seafood. Or maybe he got a bad batch of tobacco. Or maybe he was experimenting with it. Or maybe somone else at the hospital was posioned with it and it contaminated his belongings.

My point is you can't just say "Yasser Arafat, who died in 2004, was poisoned by polonium" just because you detect it in his belongings.
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Dear Occam. Hand me a razor...
 
arafatanimated.gif
 
DJ... said:
Dear Occam. Hand me a razor...
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Personally, I prefer complicated conspiracy theories over the obvious. So I'm leaning more towards the theory that:

He was posioning people will polonium, burying their bodies in his garden (fertilizer) for his home grown tobacco that he was smoking. And that is how pollonium was detected on this on his belongings.

If only I could get seafood into my theory, it would be flawless.
 
If he was poisoned, he was probably killed by faction fights by the look of it. Someone with friends in Russia. Thats what I am going with.
 
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