Arafat: Pining for the Fjords?

What is it about dictators that no one can tell when they are dead? Remember all the Soviet presidents that dropped out of the public eye with "head colds"? Now Arafat is in a French hospital and no one can seem to confirm his status. According to Reuters and the Guardian, Israeli news is claiming he is clinically dead but the Palestinians deny it:

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat was determined to be clinically dead on Thursday in a French hospital, Israel's Channel Two television said citing French sources.
But Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie denied the report, saying: "I have just spoken to the officials in Paris and they say the situation is still as it was. He is still in the intensive care unit." [Reuters]

President Bush says "God bless his soul". I say, what took so long? And when is Castro's turn coming?