TONY EASTLEY: Palestinian authorities want to see an international independent inquiry held into former leader Yasser Arafat's death after scientific tests raised suspicions he may have been deliberately poisoned.
Swiss scientists say tests on his clothing and personal effects have revealed very high levels of radioactive polonium.
Mr Arafat's widow, Suha - who opposed a post-mortem when he died - is now demanding his body be exhumed for further tests.
Middle East correspondent Anne Barker:
ANNE BARKER: Scientists in Switzerland say it's possible Yasser Arafat was poisoned by radioactive polonium when he died in a Paris hospital nearly eight years ago.
Months of laboratory tests revealed unusually high levels of polonium 210 on the clothes he was wearing in the weeks before he died, especially his underwear.
But Dr Francois Bochud, director of the Institute for Radiation Physics, says unless scientists can exhume his body they'll never know for sure.
(Sound of Francois Bochud speaking)
"One can't necessarily conclude that the polonium came from his body," he says. "But it's one possibility that is worth being investigated more deeply."
It was Yasser Arafat's widow Suha who gave his clothing and other belongings to the scientific team.
She now wants his body exhumed in the West Bank and his remains or samples sent to Switzerland for more tests.
She was interviewed on Al Jazeera television.
SUHA ARAFAT: I think this is my responsibility as a mother, as a wife and as a partner of this great man for 20 years. And this is my message to the Palestinian Authority, that they have to cooperate because the grave and the tomb of Yasser is in Ramallah.
ANNE BARKER: Palestinian authorities say they'll support the exhumation providing his family does agree.
But they've also called for a broader international inquiry backed by the United Nations into the circumstances of his death.
Saeb Erekat is an advisor to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.
SAEB EREKAT: It's not about the chemical that were used to kill Yasser Arafat. It's about the whole political situation.
At that time there were those Israeli officials who were saying that Arafat is an obstacle to peace and we must get rid of Arafat.
ANNE BARKER: For years Palestinians have harboured suspicions that Israel or its spy agencies were somehow behind Arafat's death - something Israel continues to deny.
And Yisrael Hasson, a former deputy of Israel's internal security agency the Shin Bet, says the idea that Yasser Arafat was poisoned is absurd.
(Sound of Yisrael Hasson speaking)
"If he were poisoned then how did the original laboratories not discover something that's so obvious?" he asks. "It's not like there's an amazing scientific discovery here. And why was the cause of his death not made public back then, the same way the conclusions were? This whole discussion is absurd."
Still, Israel is unlikely or can't stop the exhumation from going ahead.
And Palestinian authorities are expected to consider the matter further in the coming days.
This is Anne Barker in Jerusalem for AM.
Swiss scientists say tests on his clothing and personal effects have revealed very high levels of radioactive polonium.
Mr Arafat's widow, Suha - who opposed a post-mortem when he died - is now demanding his body be exhumed for further tests.
Middle East correspondent Anne Barker:
ANNE BARKER: Scientists in Switzerland say it's possible Yasser Arafat was poisoned by radioactive polonium when he died in a Paris hospital nearly eight years ago.
Months of laboratory tests revealed unusually high levels of polonium 210 on the clothes he was wearing in the weeks before he died, especially his underwear.
But Dr Francois Bochud, director of the Institute for Radiation Physics, says unless scientists can exhume his body they'll never know for sure.
(Sound of Francois Bochud speaking)
"One can't necessarily conclude that the polonium came from his body," he says. "But it's one possibility that is worth being investigated more deeply."
It was Yasser Arafat's widow Suha who gave his clothing and other belongings to the scientific team.
She now wants his body exhumed in the West Bank and his remains or samples sent to Switzerland for more tests.
She was interviewed on Al Jazeera television.
SUHA ARAFAT: I think this is my responsibility as a mother, as a wife and as a partner of this great man for 20 years. And this is my message to the Palestinian Authority, that they have to cooperate because the grave and the tomb of Yasser is in Ramallah.
ANNE BARKER: Palestinian authorities say they'll support the exhumation providing his family does agree.
But they've also called for a broader international inquiry backed by the United Nations into the circumstances of his death.
Saeb Erekat is an advisor to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.
SAEB EREKAT: It's not about the chemical that were used to kill Yasser Arafat. It's about the whole political situation.
At that time there were those Israeli officials who were saying that Arafat is an obstacle to peace and we must get rid of Arafat.
ANNE BARKER: For years Palestinians have harboured suspicions that Israel or its spy agencies were somehow behind Arafat's death - something Israel continues to deny.
And Yisrael Hasson, a former deputy of Israel's internal security agency the Shin Bet, says the idea that Yasser Arafat was poisoned is absurd.
(Sound of Yisrael Hasson speaking)
"If he were poisoned then how did the original laboratories not discover something that's so obvious?" he asks. "It's not like there's an amazing scientific discovery here. And why was the cause of his death not made public back then, the same way the conclusions were? This whole discussion is absurd."
Still, Israel is unlikely or can't stop the exhumation from going ahead.
And Palestinian authorities are expected to consider the matter further in the coming days.
This is Anne Barker in Jerusalem for AM.