Arafat's senior adviser Nabil Abu Rudeina said that Arafat was not in critical condition, but he needs a few days of rest.

About 1,000 Palestinians were gathering outside of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah midnight Wednesday for his health news, Xinhua correspondents at the scene said early Thursday.

Meanwhile, Arafat's senior adviser Nabil Abu Rudeina told Xinhuathat Arafat was not in critical condition, but he needs a few days of rest.

Abu Rudeina said he believed that Arafat would recover in a few days, adding that the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) has madea decision that Arafat would not go to any hospital as it worry about that Israel would not let him return.

Earlier on Wednesday night, Palestinian sources said that Arafatis in critical condition and a team of doctors in his Ramallah headquarters were fighting for his life.

A Palestinian official revealed that Arafat had collapsed earlier Wednesday, was unconscious for about ten minutes and regained consciousness but remained in "very difficult situation."

A Palestinian cabinet minister said that Arafat is "very, very sick", and that a team of Jordanian doctors was urgently summoned to examine him.

Confined to his headquarters for the past two years by Israeli forces, Arafat underwent a minor diagnostic procedure on Monday after complaining of stomach pains. Palestinian officials said thenthat an endoscopy found no serious ailment.

Source: Xinhua