Yasser Arafat has appointed the head of the PLO politburo Farouk Kadoumi as his successor, senior Palestinian officials claim as cited by Israeli newspaper Maariv.
According to the report Yasser Arafat has issued a political last will, copies of which have been given to Suha, Palestinian UN envoy al-Kidwa.
Projections are that Kadoumi will accept the position of PLO chairman but will not serve as leader of the Palestinian Authority in light of his objection to the Oslo Accords.
Latest reports say Yasser Arafat is in a reversible coma, at a "critical juncture between life and death".
"I can assure that there is no brain death," Leila Shahid, Palestinian envoy to France, told French radio in Paris.