ISRAEL/ FILE: The condition of Ariel Sharon, the former Israeli prime minister has deteriorated, doctors say

The condition of Ariel Sharon, the former Israeli prime minister who was as loved at home as he was loathed in the Arab world and who has been in a coma since January, has deteriorated, doctors said on Sunday (July 23). The worsening of Sharon's health come as Israel battles Hizbollah guerrillas in Lebanon and its forces mass on the border. As defence minister, Sharon masterminded Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon to root out Palestinian guerrillas. Doctors at the Tel Hashomer hospital near Tel Aviv said 78-year-old Sharon, who fell into a coma after a stroke on January 4, was suffering from an accumulation of fluids in his body and problems with the functioning of his kidneys. Sharon's family was with him, the hospital said. However, a family friend said that while Sharon's condition was bad, it was not irreversible and said that doctors had pointedly not said that his life was threatened. After his stroke, Sharon underwent several brain operations but has never regained consciousness. In May, he was moved from a Jerusalem hospital to Tal Hashomer, a long-term care facility. First elected prime minister in 2001, Sharon made an about-face in his second term, pulling Israeli settlers and soldiers out of the occupied Gaza Strip last year in hinting at a similar move to consolidate settlements in the West Bank. The dramatic move, marking the first time Israel had dismantled settlements on land Palestinians want for a state, stirred a far-right revolt in his Likud party, leading to the formation of Kadima. Opinion polls had shown that Sharon, as head of Kadima, was the clear favourite to win the general election in March.

ITN Source | July 24, 2006

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