Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat has been rushed to an intensive care unit at the Paris hospital where he is receiving treatment for a blood disorder, but his life is not in danger, his aides say. "He has been in intensive care since this [Wednesday] morning," an official accompanying the 75-year-old Arafat said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "He is tired but his situation is stable," another Palestinian official said, stressing that his transfer to intensive care "does not mean his life is in danger". Palestinian envoy to Paris, Leila Shahid said more tests were being carried out, although his life was not in any immediate danger. "There is a setback in [Arafat's] health. The doctors are carrying out tests to try to explain why this happened," Shahid said. Aides said the Palestinian leader could remain in hospital for several more weeks. **Setback*** "Obviously in his case, there could be setbacks at times and this is a setback," Shahid said. "Tomorrow, the doctors will give a very clear and direct explanation and report on what is happening," she said. Arafat was flown to Paris from his West Bank headquarters last week for tests and treatment for a serious blood disorder which has yet to be identified, after suffering severe stomach pains, diarrhoea and vomiting. The president of the Palestinian Authority is being treated at the blood unit of the Percy military hospital in the southwestern Paris suburb of Clamart. The ailing leader is known to be suffering from a deficiency of blood platelets - which are needed for clotting - but doctors are uncertain over what is causing the condition. French doctors have ruled out cancer and leukaemia as well as poisoning. **Comments on Bush*** Arafat was well enough on Wednesday to welcome US President George Bush's re-election, saying he hoped it would help jumpstart the Middle East peace process, one of his aides said. "President Arafat welcomed Bush's victory and voiced the hope that his new mandate and the confidence placed in him by the American people will give new momentum to the Middle East peace process," said Muhammad Rashid. Rashid said the Palestinian leader's health had experienced "a certain deterioration, and sometimes it improves". He remained conscious and there was no need to panic, he added. "The life of the president is not, at the moment, in danger and his condition is not bad," said Rashid, while refusing to confirm or deny that Arafat was in intensive care. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Yasser Arafat is seen in this April 24, 2002 file picture handed out by his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah. (REUTERS)