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Israel's ex-PM Ariel Sharon dies | Israel's ex-PM Ariel Sharon dies |
(35 minutes later) | |
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has died aged 85 after spending eight years in a coma following a stroke. | Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has died aged 85 after spending eight years in a coma following a stroke. |
He was a giant of Israel's military and political scene, but courted controversy throughout his long career. | |
The head of the Sheba Medical Centre near Tel Aviv said Mr Sharon had died on Saturday afternoon of heart failure. | |
He fell into a coma in 2006 little over a year after completing a unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. | |
The BBC's Kevin Connolly, in Jerusalem, says Ariel Sharon's life was intimately entwined with the life of the country he loved. | The BBC's Kevin Connolly, in Jerusalem, says Ariel Sharon's life was intimately entwined with the life of the country he loved. |
He fought in Israel's war of independence in 1948, and from that point until he slipped into a coma in 2006 it seemed there was hardly a moment of national drama in which he did not play a role, our correspondent says. | He fought in Israel's war of independence in 1948, and from that point until he slipped into a coma in 2006 it seemed there was hardly a moment of national drama in which he did not play a role, our correspondent says. |
The 85-year-old became PM in 2001. | |
His health had declined for the past week and a half, Sheba Medical Centre Director Professor Shlomo Noy told reporters. | |
"Over the past week he struggled with surprising strength and determination against the deterioration in his condition. Today he departed peacefully with his loving family at his side." | |
He had been in a persistent vegetative state since a stroke in 2006 and Professor Noy said he had suffered "ups and downs" throughout that period. | |
As prime minister, Mr Sharon presided over some of the most turbulent times in Israeli-Palestinian history, a Palestinian uprising that erupted in 2000 and an Israeli military crackdown after peace talks collapsed. | As prime minister, Mr Sharon presided over some of the most turbulent times in Israeli-Palestinian history, a Palestinian uprising that erupted in 2000 and an Israeli military crackdown after peace talks collapsed. |
To many Israelis, Mr Sharon was a heroic warrior, having led decisive campaigns in the 1967 and 1973 wars. | To many Israelis, Mr Sharon was a heroic warrior, having led decisive campaigns in the 1967 and 1973 wars. |
In a tribute, current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said "his memory will live forever in the nation's heart", his spokesman said on Twitter. |