Arafat and AIDS?

Hold the presses!! (I've always wanted to say that)

Rumours that Yasser Arafat is dying of AIDS have been spreading like wildfire among conspiracists, bloggers and alternative news-rooms. Now the hotest topic since Tuesday's US election is making its way into more mainstream sources, compounded by stories of Arafat's bisexuality.

News of this first came to me from an Aussie political discussion list. A member posted a thread from an Aussie-Jewish list that referenced some sites where this theory was propogating a life of its own.

In my own search across the blogosphere and wider Internet, I haven't found anything that offers a source or additional information than a bunch of untrained theorists but feel free to take a gander at these "reputable" (I use that term loosely as I've weeded out those that fitted into the bonkers category) links:

WorldNetDaily provides a great overview of the topic with sources:

The homosexual site, 365Gay.com, which deals regularly with issues related to HIV/AIDS, ran a piece yesterday reminding readers that, for several years, it has been suggested Arafat is bisexual, and could have contracted the disease.
...
National Review diarist David Frum suggested in his column this week Arafat contracted AIDS from homosexual sex with his bodyguards.
...
Ion Pacepa, who was deputy chief of Romanian foreign intelligence under the Ceaucescu regime and who defected to the West in 1978, says in his memoirs the Romania government bugged Arafat and had recordings of the Arab leader in orgies with his security detail.

Similar reports at International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, and Opinion Journal.

The rumour may remain exactly that as the French medicos are unlikely to reveal such details. Additionally there is the question over Arafat donating blood to the USA after 911. That would have been a futile effort (or just clever PR) if he was HIV+.

Of course there's also plenty of theories about being Arafat being assasinated by various governments and enemies through poisoning, an undetectable virus created by the military, and even a plague of nanobots programmed to destroy his immune system!

Other updates on Arafat's condition are found at The National Business Review, SeattlePI, Boston.com, Sydney Morning Herald, IndoLink and Health 24.

And, yes, there's also the funny side to every news item! And while a roast (see 2/3 down article) tried to be funny it may yet prove prophetic.

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