Sharon: Israel braces for end

2006-01-07 15:54

Jerusalem - Doctors battling to save the life of Ariel Sharon carried out a fresh brain scan on the Israeli prime minister on Saturday as he remained in a deep medically induced coma at a Jerusalem hospital.

Israelis and world leaders have been bracing themselves for the end of the Sharon era, amid fears his demise will spark new turmoil in a region struggling to find the path to peace after decades of conflict.

Doctors have said privately Sharon may have suffered irreversible brain damage since he suffered a massive haemorrhage on Wednesday, leaving the future of Israeli politics hanging in the balance ahead of a March election.

But a spokesperson for the Hadassah hospital said the latest scan, carried out after the 77-year-old underwent three bouts of brain surgery, had been planned in advance and did not indicate any worsening of his situation.

"It does not mean something has happened," said Ron Krumer.

As Israelis, no strangers to times of crisis, prayed for Sharon on the Jewish Sabbath, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice cleared her diary by cancelling a trip to Indonesia and Australia.

Period of great uncertainty

Sharon was declared "critical but stable" on Friday night after three hours of surgery which managed to stem new haemorrhaging in his brain, his third operation since being rushed to hospital.

Just days ago, Sharon, who has been premier since early 2001, and his new centrist Kadima party had seemed a shoo-in for a general election set for March 28 but all previous calculations are now being revised.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw warned that Israel faced a period of great uncertainty while Sharon fought for his life.

"Of course Ariel Sharon was perhaps the most dominant single figure in the whole of Middle East politics and therefore he leaves a hole for everybody.

"There's a great uncertainty in the short term," Straw said. But "even if Ariel Sharon had been well" there would have been little movement on the political level "until the end of March and the formation of a new government".

Before Israel goes to the polls, the Palestinians are also scheduled to elect their own new government on January 25.

Although Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas has said Sharon's plight should have no impact on the ballot, he has also threatened to postpone it if Israel doesn't guarantee that voting can take place in occupied east Jerusalem.

Election a national Palestinian issue

The decision will now lie in the hands of deputy premier and finance minister Ehud Olmert, who is replacing Sharon while he lies stricken.

Marwan Barghuti, the leader of the five-year Palestinian uprising, warned Abbas against any move to use Sharon's health crisis as a pretext to shelve the vote.

"The election is a national Palestinian issue and it must not be linked to any foreign concerns such as what is happening in Israel with Sharon," said Barghuti, serving five life sentences in an Israeli jail, in a message printed in Palestinian newspapers.

Palestinian militants recently called off a year-long truce, firing rockets from northern Gaza into Israel on an increasingly regular basis.

Following reports of a new overnight barrage, the Israeli army pounded the north of the territory with artillery fire.

When first elected, Sharon was regarded as the most right-wing prime minister in Israeli history.

His staggering decision to end Israel's 38-year occupation of Gaza led to an overhaul of previous assessments, although he largely refused to regard the Palestinian Authority as a negotiating partner.

- AFP