Sharon back in theatre

2006-01-06 12:42

Jerusalem - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was rushed back to the operating theatre on Friday after doctors detected new bleeding in his brain.

Shlomo Moryussef, director of Jerusalem's Hadassah hospital, said that "an area of bleeding" had been detected when he underwent a brain scan.

"The prime minister was transferred to the operating room in order to reduce the intra-cranial pressure," Moryussef told reporters at the hospital where Sharon was admitted on Wednesday night with a brain haemorrhage.

The downturn in Sharon's condition came after some of his closest allies have acknowledged he is unlikely to ever return to office, while doctors have privately said that he may well have suffered irreversible brain damage.

One of the doctors at the hospital told the Maariv daily that "we cannot say this with certainty, but due to the location of the problem, we believe that the damage that the prime minister suffered is expected to cause paralysis and perhaps his speech will be affected to a certain extent".

Damage likely to be 'extensive, irreversible'

Another of Sharon's doctors was quoted as telling the Haaretz that the damage was likely to be "extensive and irreversible".

The prime minister's deteriorating health comes as he was seeking election to a third term in office as head of his new centrist Kadima party.

For the moment at least, officials have said a scheduled general election in Israel will go ahead as planned in three months' time on March 28.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Ehud Olmert has been named acting prime minister in accordance with the law.

However in the event of Sharon dying or being permanently incapacitated, Olmert's temporary appointment will have to be approved in a cabinet vote.

- AFP