The Palestinians want an international probe into the death of former president Yasser Arafat after an investigation showed he may have been poisoned.

Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erakat said that they call for the formation of an international investigation committee modelled on the international investigation committee set up to look into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.

The call came a day after the Al-Jazeera news channel, broadcast the results of an investigation into the death of Arafat, who died in 2004, which showed that the Palestinian leader might have been poisoned with polonium.

The news channel said an analysis of Arafat's belongings, which were given to his wife by the Paris hospital where he died, showed high levels of the radioactive substance.