The Palestinians are seeking an international probe into Yasser Arafat's death to finally "close the file" after new suspicions that he was murdered, their foreign minister said on Thursday.

The demand was backed by Tunisia, which called for an urgent meeting of the Arab League and the formation of an international commission of inquiry.

"We are waiting for this Tunisian initiative to be translated into action and for the meeting to be held," Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki said.

"Then we will ask for an international investigation committee to be formed similar to the one formed into the assassination of (Lebanese Prime Minister) Rafiq Hariri so we can solve so many of the unanswered questions," he added.

"We want to show that the PA (Palestinian Authority) leadership and people are all anxious to know all the details surrounding Arafat's death, so we can close this file," he said.

A Swiss institute that examined clothing provided by Arafat's widow Suha as part of an Al-Jazeera expose said it found "surprisingly" high levels of polonium-210, the same substance found to have killed a former Russian spy in London in 2006, despite symptoms described in the president's medical reports were not consistent with the radioactive agent.

The Palestinian Authority agreed on Wednesday to exhume Arafat's body from its mausoleum at the Palestinian presidency headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah for a forensic examination.

The supreme Palestinian Islamic authority, Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Mohammed Hussein, said there was no religious law forbidding Arafat's exhumation.

In Tunisia, Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalem said: "We call for an urgent meeting of Arab League foreign ministers and the creation of an international committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death.

AFP - Reuters