Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat ordered Finance Minister Salam Fayyad to pay salaries to Palestinian employees during a phone call, Palestinian official sources reported Monday.

In a five-minute phone call from Paris, Arafat asserted to the minister to pay salaries to the Palestinian employees, Fayyad told reporters.

Fayyad said that Arafat was worried about the financial situation in the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), adding "President Arafat said that we have to guarantee to pay salaries to employees."

Meanwhile, Fayyad revealed Arafat sounded coherent and alert during the telephone conversation. "This phone call is a clear proof that President Arafat is fully aware of what is going on around him," Fayyad said. "He cares about the Palestinian cause even when he is ill."