The recent working diagnosis is that Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat is suffering from stomach cancer, Time Magazine reportrf Thursday, basing its story on a source inside Arafat's compound.

"Our source has been reliable in everything he's given us in the past," said a Time correspondent.

On Wednesday, The Guardian quoted an unidentified aide close to Arafat as saying he had a "slight heart attack" last week, adding that the incident was kept secret for fear of creating panic. A senior aide said however that "the report about the heart attack is a complete lie."

At the beginning of last week, Arafat was visited by doctors from Jordan after a three-day illness, reported to be flu.