French President Jacques Chirac briefly visited Yasser Arafat in the Paris military hospital treating the gravely ill Palestinian leader and offered his wishes for a speedy recovery.

Chirac "saw president Arafat and his wife (Suha) and expressed his wishes," spokesman Jerome Bonnafont told journalists.

The French president also saw other Palestinian officials at the Percy hospital in the southwestern suburb of Clamart that is treating 75-year-old Arafat.

"He spoke with doctors who are doing everything possible for the Palestinian Authority president's health," Bonnafont said Thursday.

He added that Chirac left a short while later for a European Union meeting in Brussels.

Source: Agencies