Ramadan Shalah, leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, has suffered a stroke and is in a coma, Palestinian media reported Tuesday.
The exact medical condition of 60-year-old Shalah was the subject of conflicting reports. Some media outlets attributed the coma to a massive stroke, others claimed he underwent surgery after suffering a stroke and was rendered comatose due to complications, and other still suggested he went into a coma after being poisoned, presumably by either the Mossad, Israel's national intelligence agency or "other foreign agents operating in the region."
The Palestinian Quds Press agency quoted a high-ranking official in the terrorist group as saying that Shalah had undergone surgery in a hospital in Dahieh, Hezbollah's stronghold in Beirut, several weeks ago and has since suffered several strokes.
However, a Fatah official told Palestinian media Tuesday that the security officer at the Palestinian Embassy in Beirut reported on Shalah's condition to Palestinian intelligence in Ramallah, saying Shalah may have been poisoned.
Islamic Jihad has denied that Shalah was poisoned, saying only that he was hospitalized after having undergone surgery for a "naturally occurring ailment."
