to exhuming the body. However, Nimr Hamad, an aide to Abbas, stated that a team of experts would first be sent to Europe to learn more from the Swiss institute and from the French military hospital where Arafat died. Abbas stated that he would only order an autopsy if the family agreed, but did not define whom in the family he meant. Later, Abbas stated that they would only investigate "if necessary". Tawfiq Tirawi, the head of the committee in charge of investigating Arafat's death, stated: "We are certain that there are Palestinian hands that contributed to the elimination of Yasser Arafat." With regards to those people, Tirawi stated that they "will be subject to severe penalties and doomed to death". On 30 July 2012, Tirawi added, "We haven't initiated the investigation based on the hypothesis that Arafat was killed by poison, but we agreed to begin an investigation searching directly for the killer regardless of the medical reports which will eventually show the method of killing and name of the toxin." Tunisia also requested that the Arab League convene a ministerial meeting to discuss Arafat's death and study the circumstances in which he died. Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby stated that a permanent representative meeting would be held to discuss Arafat's death, and that permanent representatives would prepare a report and raise proposals over necessary action, which they would present in the soonest Arab League ministerial meeting. Exhumation of Arafat's remains On 9 July 2012, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas approved the exhumation of Arafat's body in response to the Al Jazeera story about polonium. On 8 August 2012, Swiss experts were invited to the West Bank to prepare for the examination of Yasser Arafat's remains to investigate possible poisoning. The lab said that they wanted guarantees that the investigation would not be used for political purposes, saying, "Meanwhile, our main concern is to guarantee the independence, the credibility and the transparency of any involvement that we may have." On 27 November 2012, three teams of international investigators collected samples from Arafat's body and the surrounding soil in the mausoleum in Ramallah. A French, a Swiss and a Russian team have independently investigated the samples. Publication of the results of the studies was delayed, reportedly on the request of the Palestinian Authority, which feared they could have negative impact on the peace talks. On 6 November 2013, Al Jazeera