normalcy Ramallah, West Bank, Oct 30, SPA -- The Palestinian leadership convened Saturday without Yasser Arafat in the chair forthe first time in years, while doctors in a French hospitalconducted a battery of blood tests to see whether theveteran leader's illness is terminal. Anxious to maintain an air of normalcy, the top committeeof the Palestine Liberation Organization held its regularweekly meeting in Arafat's office in the crumbling compoundto which he had been confined by Israel for nearly threeyears, until being airlifted to Paris for treatment onFriday. Mahmoud Abbas, the secretary-general of the PLO executivecommittee, chaired the meeting of a dozen members, butofficials cautioned against reading that as a signal Abbasis ready to take over from Arafat. "This is a normal meeting about the situation and aboutan action plan," in the Palestinian territories, said SaebErekat, a senior Palestinian legislator. "I don't think wewill have a political vacuum." Erekat said it was one of the few times in decades thatArafat was not conducting the meeting. Arafat's chair at the head of the conference table wasleft empty, with Abbas remaining in his usual seat to theright and Ahmed Qureia, the prime minister of thePalestinian Authority, on the left. Committee member Ghasan Shaka'a said the meeting showedthe Palestinian institutions were still functioning, andthat even in his absence "Arafat exists among us. He isthe base of our political system, and he is among us everysingle moment," Shaka'a said as he entered Arafat's guttedheadquarters. On Sunday, Qureia was to convene the National SecurityCouncil, in charge of all the security forces in the WestBank and Gaza. Arafat normally chairs the NSC, butinstructed Qureia on Thursday to convene the council asusual in his absence, officials said.--SPA1410 Local Time 1110 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/214282