Sharon fighting for his life
By Dan Williams 20 minutes ago
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, a dominant figure for decades in shaping the Middle East, was fighting for his life on Thursday after suffering a massive brain hemorrhage.
"It looks very bad. I don't know if he will recover," said a senior political source after Sharon, 77, was rushed in an ambulance from his ranch in southern Israel to Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem late on Wednesday.
An Israeli radio reporter quoted a hospital spokeswoman as saying Sharon was still alive following surgery. The hospital said there would be an announcement on his condition at 6:45 a.m. (0445 GMT).
Asked about Sharon's condition as he and other aides left the hospital, his communication director, Asaf Shariv, said: "The doctors will make the announcement. They're the ones authorized to do so."
Sharon's death or incapacitation would cause political upheaval in Israel ahead of a March 28 general election he had been expected to win on a platform of ending conflict with the Palestinians. He has been prime minister since 2001.
Hopes of any peace talks would be given another setback at a time of growing violence and increasing Palestinian turmoil.
"He has significant, massive cerebral bleeding ... the aim of the operation is to drain it," Hadassah hospital director Shmuel Shapira said.
Haaretz newspaper said on its Web site that Sharon was paralyzed in half of his body, and medical experts agreed the prime minister was unlikely to pull through the operation without his faculties being at least seriously impaired.
"With all due caution, it appears as though the era of Sharon leading Israel has reached its tragic end," wrote Aluf Ben, Haaretz's diplomatic correspondent.
Sharon's prime ministerial powers were transferred temporarily to his deputy, Ehud Olmert, who was to hold an emergency cabinet meeting later. Recent polls have not shown Olmert to be seen as a long-term successor.
BUSH PRAYING
U.S. President George W. Bush, a close ally of Sharon, said "we are praying for his recovery."
"Prime Minister Sharon is a man of courage and peace. On behalf of all Americans, we send our best wishes and hopes to the prime minister and his family," Bush added.
Sharon, who raised optimism for Middle East peace by pulling settlers and soldiers out of the Gaza Strip last September to end 38 years of military rule, suffered what doctors described as a mild stroke on December 18.
He had been due to undergo an operation on Thursday at Hadassah to repair a tiny hole in his heart thought to have contributed to his stroke last month.
The hefty ex-general popularly known as "The Bulldozer" spent several days in hospital but plowed back into a punishing public schedule in recent weeks.
Opinion polls have shown Sharon was on course to win the March election as leader of the new centrist Kadima faction he founded after quitting the right-wing Likud party in the face of a party rebellion over the Gaza pullout.
He has campaigned on a platform of readiness to give up more occupied land in the West Bank as a way to end decades of conflict, but has vowed to keep Israel's hold on major settlement blocs.
BOLD STEPS
A large part of Sharon's popularity among Israelis stems from a belief that he could take bold steps that others would not get away with given his background as the archetypal hawk.
Palestinians have long suspected that Sharon's plans for ending conflict meant that he would dictate terms that would leave them only fragments of the state they seek.
Deputy Palestinian Prime Minister Nabil Shaath said he did not believe Sharon ever had any faith in the peace process, but his condition would increase uncertainty over getting back to negotiations.
Battered by Sharon's harsh measures to fight a five-year-old uprising, militant factions reacted with glee.
"The whole region will be better off with him absent," said powerful Islamic group Hamas. "Sharon was the one who carried out massacres and terrorism for decades against our people."
In Washington, White House national security adviser Stephen Hadley briefed Bush on Sharon's condition.
Bush has relied heavily on Sharon as he attempts to coax Israelis and Palestinians into a peace agreement. He scolded Sharon after the prime minister's stroke in December to watch what he eats and get more exercise.
Sharon's health crisis was likely to further slow Bush's quest for two states, Palestine and Israel, living in peace.
Hopes for progress were already dwindling given the possibility of a delay to a January 25 Palestinian election and growing internal unrest in the Gaza Strip and West Bank as well as an increase in violence with Israel.
"I don't think we're going to have any efforts for a while," said Edward Walker, president of the Middle East Institute and a former U.S. ambassador to Israel.
"I don't see how you can marry up the Palestinians with the Israelis when both are undergoing leadership crises."
Sharon's old foe Yasser Arafat, an iconic leader for the Palestinians, died in November 2004 when a brain hemorrhage ended weeks of illness.
(Additional reporting by Allyn Fisher-Ilan, Jeffrey Heller, Corinne Heller, Ori Lewis in Jerusalem, Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza, Steve Holland in Washington)
Copyright © 2006 Reuters Limited.
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