Sharon faces multi-organ failure, says doctor

Ariel Sharon, 85, who has been in a coma for eight years after a devastating stroke incapacitated him at the peak of his political power, was fighting and was not in pain, said Dr Zeev Rotstein, the director of Tel Hashomer hospital near Tel Aviv.

JERUSALEM // The former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon’s already critical medical condition deteriorated further on Friday.

Mr Sharon, 85, who has been in a coma for eight years after a devastating stroke incapacitated him at the peak of his political power, was fighting and was not in pain, said Dr Zeev Rotstein, the director of Tel Hashomer hospital near Tel Aviv.

Mr Sharon was one of Israel’s most controversial figures and his career stretched across Israel’s 65-year history.

Dr Rotstein said Mr Sharon’s life remained in danger and that “there is a slow and gradual deterioration” in his condition along with “multi-organ failure”.

Test results show Mr Sharon also has a blood infection.

Dr Rotstein refused to provide a prognosis but when asked if Mr Sharon will recover, “looking at the trend of deterioration, it doesn’t give us good signs for the future”.

Mr Sharon has been known as one of Israel’s most famous generals, as well as one noted for his brutality and a refusal to obey orders.

Mr Sharon helped turn the tide of the 1973 Middle East war when Arab armies launched a surprise attack on Israel on Yom Kippur, causing large Israeli casualties. He led an Israeli force across the Suez Canal, trapping part of the Egyptian army.

As a politician, he became known as “the bulldozer”, a man contemptuous of his critics while also capable of getting things done. He was elected prime minister in 2001.

In mid-2005, he directed a unilateral withdrawal of Israeli troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip, ending a 38-year military control of the territory. It was a surprise turnaround for a man who had been a leading player in building Jewish settlements in captured territories.

* Associated Press