It was over with no fanfare. The corpse of Yasser Arafat, which it has taken experts almost three weeks to exhume from his Ramallah resting place, emerged, was tested and then reburied.

The Palestine Liberation Organisation leader died mysteriously in Paris of a short illness, prompting suspicion he hads been poisioned.

Many ordinary Palestinians, and Arafat's widow Suha, believe he was poisoned with Polonium by Israel. have long believed Arafat was murdered by Israel, but they are divided over whether that warrants digging him up.

yasser arafat

Mohammed Hussein, Mufti of Jerusalem, second right, walks out of the mausoleum of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, in the West Bank city of Ramallah

French officials determined he died at a Paris hospital from a sudden stroke caused by a blood disorder.

French, Swiss and Russian experts will now test the remains, as will Palestinian experts, and results will not be ready until March or April 2013.

Israel has repeatedly denied killing Arafat and called on the Palestinian leadership to release his medical records, which it has refused.