This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-25574194
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 1 | Version 2 |
---|---|
Israel ex-PM Ariel Sharon 'critically ill' | Israel ex-PM Ariel Sharon 'critically ill' |
(35 minutes later) | |
The condition of Israel's former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon - who has been in a coma since 2006 - has worsened and is now critical, "with some danger to life", his doctors say. | The condition of Israel's former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon - who has been in a coma since 2006 - has worsened and is now critical, "with some danger to life", his doctors say. |
Mr Sharon, 85, is suffering from a malfunction of several organs including the kidneys, they said. | Mr Sharon, 85, is suffering from a malfunction of several organs including the kidneys, they said. |
He became prime minister in 2001 and suffered a mild stroke in 2005. | He became prime minister in 2001 and suffered a mild stroke in 2005. |
After a second, major stroke in 2006, he went into a coma and has been in a persistent vegetative state ever since. | After a second, major stroke in 2006, he went into a coma and has been in a persistent vegetative state ever since. |
Giving the first official medical statement on the current situation, Professor Zeev Rotstein of Tel Hashomer hospital, said: "I am no prophet, but the feeling of his doctors and his sons... is that there has been a change for the worse. | |
"We are defining his condition as critical, and there is definitely a threat to his life. The feeling of everyone... is that this decline is very serious." | |
Mr Sharon's family is at his bedside. | |
One of his sons, Omri, told the Jerusalem Post: "We have hope, we always have hope." | |
'Security and peace' | 'Security and peace' |
Having fought in all of Israel's wars since the state's founding in 1948, Mr Sharon is admired by many Israelis as a great military leader, but is reviled by Palestinians. | |
In both the 1967 and 1973 wars, Mr Sharon led divisions that played a key role in Israeli successes. | |
While serving as defence minister in 1982, he masterminded Israel's invasion of Lebanon in the wake of shelling of Israel by the Palestine Liberation Organisation which was based there. | |
During the invasion, Lebanese Christian militiamen allied to Israel massacred hundreds of Palestinians in two Beirut refugee camps under Israeli control. | |
The following year an Israeli commission of inquiry ruled that he carried personal responsibility for allowing the massacres to take place. | The following year an Israeli commission of inquiry ruled that he carried personal responsibility for allowing the massacres to take place. |
He was nevertheless elected prime minister 18 years later, pledging to achieve "security and true peace", and served until his second stroke. | He was nevertheless elected prime minister 18 years later, pledging to achieve "security and true peace", and served until his second stroke. |
Mr Sharon was a keen promoter of the construction of Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. He also initiated the construction of the controversial West Bank barrier following a wave of deadly attacks by Palestinian militants who were able to get into Israel. | |
But in 2005, despite fierce opposition in Israel, he ordered the unilateral withdrawal of Israeli troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip. | But in 2005, despite fierce opposition in Israel, he ordered the unilateral withdrawal of Israeli troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip. |
In that year, he left his Likud Party to establish the centrist Kadima Party and appeared headed for re-election when he suffered the major stroke in 2006. |