RAMALLAH, West Bank (CP) - Yasser Arafat, who triumphantly forced his people's plight into the world spotlight but failed to achieve his lifelong quest for Palestinian statehood, died Thursday at age 75.
The French military hospital where Arafat had been treated for nearly two weeks said he died at 3:30 a.m. The Palestinian president spent his final days there in a coma. Doctors would not disclose what ailment caused his death. In a statement, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said he was saddened by Arafat's passing:
"President Arafat was one of those few leaders who could be instantly recognized by people in any walk of life all around the world. For nearly four decades, he expressed and symbolized in his person the national aspirations of the Palestinian people."
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