Reports continue to claim that Yasser Arafat is clinging to life, but Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., says he's learned that the Palestinian leader has in fact been dead for several days.
Speaking from Damascus, Syria, Ackerman told WWRL Radio's Steve Malzberg and Karen Hunter: "The reports here are that Arafat has indeed passed away. They'll be making the announcement very soon. The cleric that they sent up to see him has determined that he is indeed dead."
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Ackerman was referring to Muslim cleric Taisser Bayod Tamimi, who was at Arafat's bedside earlier today in Paris.
"I think they bought themselves some time," the New York Democrat said. "They were just waiting for the cleric. They will have three days to bury him once he is pronounced dead, and they want to do it before sundown on Friday."
Ackerman, who sits on the House International Relations Committee and is touring the Middle East this week, bristled at reports suggesting that former presidents Clinton or Carter might attend Arafat's funeral.
"I don't think that any president or ex-president should attend the funeral. I don't think the secretary of state should. Maybe [Deputy Secretary of State] Richard Armitage will go. He's been the one designated for that kind of thing in the past."
As for any eulogies, Ackerman said: "I don't think we will be offering condolences or express regrets about his death. I think we will express our sympathies to the Palestinian people. Like it or not, Arafat is the George Washington of the Palestinian people and the father of Palestinian nationalism, and we are going to want them to be a real partner in the peace process."
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