Yasser Arafat exhumation, autopsy okayed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas

(CBS/AP) RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has given his permission for the exhumation of the remains of his predecessor, Yasser Arafat, a top aide said Monday, days after a Swiss institute reported finding elevated traces of a radioactive substance on the late leader's belongings.

The findings by Switzerland's Institute of Radiation Physics were inconclusive, but CBS Radio News correspondent Robert Berger reports that they revived speculation among Palestinians that Arafat was poisoned by Israel. Israel says it was not involved, and medical reports have found no conclusive evidence to date that Arafat was poisoned.

The legendary Palestinian leader died Nov. 11, 2004 in a French military hospital, a month after falling violently ill at his government compound in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

Arafat was buried in a mausoleum that has become the centerpiece of the Ramallah compound where Abbas's headquarters are located. The exhumation would create a huge spectacle that could upset some devout Muslims, though there seems to be a widespread desire among Palestinians to determine the cause of death.

Abbas aide Saeb Erekat said Monday that the Palestinian president has decided to invite the Swiss experts to Ramallah in order to examine the remains. "We are on the way to an autopsy," Erekat told The Associated Press.

Erekat said a Palestinian medical expert would contact the Swiss institute later Monday or Tuesday to offer the invitation. Erekat said an autopsy could be conducted as soon as the Swiss team arrives. A spokesperson for the institute said they had not yet been contacted by the Palestinian Authority.

Arafat's widow, Suha, has repeatedly called for exhuming the remains. She worked closely with the Arab satellite TV station Al-Jazeera, which conducted an investigation into Arafat's death and received permission from her to submit her husband's belongings for testing. The top Muslim cleric in the Palestinian territories has also given his blessing to exhuming the remains.

However, Arafat's nephew, Nasser al-Kidwa, has been cool to the idea of an autopsy but signaled he will not stand in the way.

"Our belief was always that it was an unusual death, and most likely he (Arafat) was poisoned. Now all indications say he was poisoned," al-Kidwa told AP.

It was not immediately clear whether al-Kidwa would or could block attempts to exhume the remains. Al-Kidwa, a former Palestinian envoy to the United Nations, heads the Yasser Arafat Foundation and is the custodian of Arafat's memory.

Erekat suggested that Abbas was firm in his decision to move forward.