© Reuters/Mohamad TorokmanPresidential guards stand near the grave of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the West Bank city of Ramallah November 21, 2013.
President Yasser Arafat's spartan bedroom remains largely as he left it in 2004, when he flew off to France for treatment for a mystery illness only to return home two weeks later in a coffin.
More like a prison cell than the living quarters of an Arab leader, a single bed lies along one wall, a small fridge still contains some of his long-expired medicines and his old, khaki uniform, dotted with bright badges, hangs in a narrow wardrobe.
Giving an outsider a rare glimpse into a long-shuttered world, the door to the adjacent room is thrown open, revealing the wooden casket that brought his corpse back to Ramallah.
Arafat's body, wrapped in a Palestinian flag, was buried nine years ago, but conspiracy theories he was poisoned were never laid to rest, with accusations flying on all sides.
Should evidence emerge that Israel killed the Palestinian leader, a legacy of rancour could wreck the chances of peace for years to come. Proof that someone from Arafat's own inner circle did it could sweep away a generation of politicians who still hold sway in the occupied West Bank.
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