Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who is now in critical condition, has named a three-man committee to take over in his absence, the Qatar-based al-Jazeera TV channel reported. The committee groups Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and his predecessor Mahmud Abbas and Parliament Speaker Salim al-Zaanoun.

The three men will take over power for the 75-year-old veteran leader in case he needs surgery, the TV report said.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is in critical condition and a team of doctors in his Ramallah headquarters were fighting for his life, Palestinian sources said on Wednesday night.

A team of doctors, some of them from Tunisia and Jordan, arrivedat the Muqata in Ramallah to treat Arafat, according to the sources. A Palestinian official revealed that Arafat had collapsed Wednesday, was unconscious for about ten minutes and regained consciousness but remained in "very difficult situation."

Earlier on Wednesday night, aA Palestinian cabinet minister saidthat Arafat is "very, very sick, and that a team of Jordanian doctors was urgently summoned to examine him.

Confined to his headquarters for the past two years by Israeli forces, Arafat underwent a minor diagnostic procedure on Monday after complaining of stomach pains. Palestinian officials said thenthat an endoscopy found no serious ailment.