Swiss laboratory research released Tuesday suggests Yassir Arafat was poisoned with polonium in 2004.

Arafat died on November 11, 2004, following several weeks of treatment for deteriorating health. He had been airlifted to France from his besieged headquarters in Ramallah.

However, French officials are restricted by privacy laws and have refused to reveal the precise cause of death or the nature of his condition, fuelling a host of rumours and theories as to the cause of his illness.

“If (Suha Arafat) really wants to know what happened to her husband (we need) to find a sample – I mean, an exhumation… should provide us with a sample that should have a very high quantity of polonium if he was poisoned,” he said.

“I can confirm to you that we measured an unexplained, elevated amount of unsupported polonium-210 in the belongings of Mr. Arafat that contained stains of biological fluids,” said Bochud said.

Polonium is a highly radioactive element used, among other things, to power spacecraft. 

The lab’s results were reported in millibecquerels (mBq), a scientific unit used to measure radioactivity.

But Arafat’s personal effects, particularly those with bodily fluids on them, registered much higher levels of the element. His toothbrushes had polonium levels of 54mBq; the urine stain on his underwear, 180mBq. 

However, even though the tests indicate Arafat was in all likelihood poisoned, they do nothing to suggest who may have been behind it.