Palestinians in tug-of-war over Arafat money

"Arafat has enormous sums of money at his disposal, and any difficulties with respect to a leadership transition in the Palestinian camp are related to that money," Shalom told public radio via telephone from Beijing.

"The question is to see who ends up putting their hands on that money," Shalom added.

"We are not interfering with preparations for the post-Arafat era. We have to wait, and we hope that the new Palestinian leadership will fight against terrorism, proceed with carrying out democratic reforms within the Palestinian Authority and be able to engage in peace talks with Israel," he said.

Four of Arafat's top lieutenants including current prime minister Ahmed Qorei and acting Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) chairman Mahmud Abbas were in Paris on Tuesday to visit Arafat at his hospital bedside.

Their visit came after Arafat's wife Suha accused them of plotting a deathbed coup.

As Arafat fights for his life, reports have swirled in the Israeli media about his alleged secret fortune, with the daily Haaretz estimating the total at one billion dollars.

Israel's top-selling daily Yediot Aharonot quoted a more conservative figure, citing the US magazine Forbes which ranked Arafat as the ninth richest leader in the world, with a personal fortune of some 200 million dollars.