Arafat's decline

 ''A combination of age, poor health and deep depression, are to blame " said one of Yasser Arafat's closest aides to an American diplomat last week. The 69-year-old president of the Palestinian Authority has been "barely functioning" recently. He has "sunk into a black cloud of depression and lost hope".

When he was in London last month, he was visibly shaky, his hands and lower lip were trembling. Arafat's aids deny that Al-Ikhtiar (the old man) suffers from Parkinson's Disease, causing his hands and lips to tremble on occasions. But Arafat may be suffering from a serious nervous disorder. Whatever the reason, Arafat is no longer as sharp and quick as he once was, and his remarkable memory is fading, the American source says.

This does not mean that Arafat is losing control. On the contrary, he still controls the financial aid received by the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), of which he is still chairman. His is the chequebook that counts. But long years of political struggle, endless travel to seek support for his cause and tension in relations with Israel and Jordan in particular have taken their toll.

Insiders said ''he is over the hill but unwilling to admit it". He is surrounded, the aide says, "by people who even hide from him important faxes". Most worrying, Arafat seems to have lost hope that he can get Israel to keep its word, given in the Oslo agreement with the PLO. He asks people to prepare for the worst.

Arafat does not consult with his close aides as he once did. He often seems to be in a bad mood. He is no longer a workaholic. The leader who in the past was at his best between midnight and the morning now goes to bed at midnight, on the insistence of specialists at the Mayo Clinic, in Minnesota.

Arafat last week declined a renewed request for a meeting by Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, whom he blames for the collapse of the Middle East peace process. He sent an aide, Abu Alaa, instead. Nothing came of it.

People whisper: who comes after Arafat?

The name Mahmoud Abbas has been mentioned. Known as Abu Maze, Mr Abbas is a respected leader of the PLO who spent most of his life in the Palestinian Diaspora. Arafat has apparently change his mind about two weeks ago. He now wants to be succeeded by somebody who stayed on in the Occupied Territories throughout its troubled times, serving as a leader of Fatah, Arafat's mainstream PLO faction.