"There is no committee that has been formed. This is not true,"Arafat's senior advisor Nabil Abu-Rudeineh told reporters at Arafat's compound in Ramallah.

The Qatar-based al-Jazeera TV channel reported that Arafat, whois now in critical condition, has named a three-man committee to take over power in his absence.

The committee groups Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and his predecessor Mahmud Abbas and Parliament Speaker Salim al-Zaanoun, said the report, adding the trio will take over power for the veteran leader in case of his surgery.

The advisor also denied earlier reports claiming Arafat had collapsed and had lost consciousness for several hours.

"A team of Tunisian and Palestinian doctors is examining the president," he said, adding that Arafat's condition was stable andhe "needs more rest because of his fatigue."

A Palestinian official revealed Wednesday night that Arafat hadcollapsed, was unconscious for about ten minutes and remained in "very difficult situation."

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

Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said Tuesday that Arafat was in pain because of a serious stomach flu, but doctors flown in from Egypt and Tunisia expected him to be feeling much better in a few days. He said the doctors had ruled out stomach cancer.