Kaymara
01-04-2006, 07:38 PM
Sharon fights for life after stroke
Power transferred to Israel's deputy prime minister
Wednesday, January 4, 2006; Posted: 8:00 p.m. EST (01:00 GMT)
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was fighting for his life early Thursday after suffering what his doctor called a "significant" stroke.
With Sharon in surgery, under anesthesia and on a respirator, his powers were transferred to Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, a key ally who followed Sharon in bolting from the Likud bloc to form a new centrist party and shake up Israeli politics.
Sharon's stroke plunged the country into political uncertainty less than three months before a pivotal election.
Sharon, 77, was taken by ambulance Wednesday night from his home in the Negev Desert, in southern Israel, to Jerusalem's Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital after complaining of chest pain and weakness, according to his senior adviser, Ra'anan Gissen.
He arrived at the hospital shortly before 11 p.m. (4 p.m. ET), said Ron Krumer, a hospital spokesman. Israeli Channel 2 reported Sharon was taken in on a stretcher.
The prime minister was conscious when he arrived at the hospital, Gissen said.
"After that, apparently there was some worsening of the condition," he said.
Doctors sedated Sharon and performed a magnetic resonance imaging scan, Gissen said.
They diagnosed a cerebral hemorrhage, or bleeding of a blood vessel in Sharon's brain, and he was taken into surgery to repair the rupture. The procedure which was expected to take several hours.
Emerging from the hospital during the surgery, Gissen told CNN that "the operation is progressing well. He's in stable condition."
Cabinet Secretary Israel Maimon told reporters that after consultations with Olmert and Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, the decision was made to transfer Sharon's powers to Olmert when it became clear the prime minister would have to be sedated for treatment.
Olmert and the rest of the Cabinet will meet Thursday at 9 a.m. (2 a.m. ET), the prime minister's office said.
The stroke was the second suffered by Sharon in less than a month. After the first stroke, on December 18, the prime minister was placed on blood-thinning medication, which can be associated with an increased risk of brain hemorrhage.
Sharon's illness came after a full day of meetings, though he had trimmed his workload since December 18, Gissin told CNN.
The prime minister had been scheduled to undergo minor surgery Thursday to repair a small hole in his heart, which doctors said contributed to a blood clot that caused the first stroke.
Political uncertainty
A former army general and larger-than-life personality in Israel, Sharon was first elected prime minister in 2001 and re-elected in 2003.
He has been seeking a third mandate in the March election, a vote seen as a test for his controversial decision to turn over Gaza and parts of the West Bank to Palestinian control and dismantle Israeli settlements.
Sharon faced strong opposition to the disengagement plan within the right-wing Likud bloc he helped found. He decided in November to abandon his political home of three decades and form a new party, Kadima, in an effort to capture the center of the Israeli electorate, where support for his peace initiative is stronger.
Polls taken after the prime minister's move showed Kadima vaulting into the lead. However, the party is so closely associated with Sharon that his health problems are likely to inject significant uncertainty into the campaign.
In Washington, President Bush issued a statement saying he and first lady Laura Bush were "praying for his recovery."
"Prime Minister Sharon is a man of courage and peace," Bush said. "On behalf of all Americans, we send our best wishes and hopes to the prime minister and his family."
The two leaders have known each other since Bush was governor of Texas and had formed a close political bond that included a mutual antipathy toward dealing with Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, who died in 2004.
Olmert, 60, became Sharon's deputy prime minister in 2003 after serving 10 years as mayor of Jerusalem.
He took on the additional post of finance minister last year after Sharon's longtime rival within Likud, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, resigned to protest the Gaza pullout.
In December, Likud members picked Netanyahu to lead them into the March campaign.
Although Sharon had difficulty speaking during the mild stroke last month, neurological testing found that he recalled everything from the night of his admission, Dr. Chaim Lotem said.
Doctors said Sharon had suffered no lasting brain damage. He was released from the hospital two days after the stroke and resumed working.
Nicknamed "The Bulldozer" for his stamina during meetings and long working hours, he had not been in ill health prior to the initial stroke. He is twice widowed, has two sons and lives alone.
Doctors ordered the overweight prime minister to go on diet. Sharon's doctors said earlier this week that he weighed 118 kilograms (260.2 pounds) at the time of the first stroke, and had lost 3 kilos (6.6 pounds) since then.
Power transferred to Israel's deputy prime minister
Wednesday, January 4, 2006; Posted: 8:00 p.m. EST (01:00 GMT)
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was fighting for his life early Thursday after suffering what his doctor called a "significant" stroke.
With Sharon in surgery, under anesthesia and on a respirator, his powers were transferred to Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, a key ally who followed Sharon in bolting from the Likud bloc to form a new centrist party and shake up Israeli politics.
Sharon's stroke plunged the country into political uncertainty less than three months before a pivotal election.
Sharon, 77, was taken by ambulance Wednesday night from his home in the Negev Desert, in southern Israel, to Jerusalem's Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital after complaining of chest pain and weakness, according to his senior adviser, Ra'anan Gissen.
He arrived at the hospital shortly before 11 p.m. (4 p.m. ET), said Ron Krumer, a hospital spokesman. Israeli Channel 2 reported Sharon was taken in on a stretcher.
The prime minister was conscious when he arrived at the hospital, Gissen said.
"After that, apparently there was some worsening of the condition," he said.
Doctors sedated Sharon and performed a magnetic resonance imaging scan, Gissen said.
They diagnosed a cerebral hemorrhage, or bleeding of a blood vessel in Sharon's brain, and he was taken into surgery to repair the rupture. The procedure which was expected to take several hours.
Emerging from the hospital during the surgery, Gissen told CNN that "the operation is progressing well. He's in stable condition."
Cabinet Secretary Israel Maimon told reporters that after consultations with Olmert and Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, the decision was made to transfer Sharon's powers to Olmert when it became clear the prime minister would have to be sedated for treatment.
Olmert and the rest of the Cabinet will meet Thursday at 9 a.m. (2 a.m. ET), the prime minister's office said.
The stroke was the second suffered by Sharon in less than a month. After the first stroke, on December 18, the prime minister was placed on blood-thinning medication, which can be associated with an increased risk of brain hemorrhage.
Sharon's illness came after a full day of meetings, though he had trimmed his workload since December 18, Gissin told CNN.
The prime minister had been scheduled to undergo minor surgery Thursday to repair a small hole in his heart, which doctors said contributed to a blood clot that caused the first stroke.
Political uncertainty
A former army general and larger-than-life personality in Israel, Sharon was first elected prime minister in 2001 and re-elected in 2003.
He has been seeking a third mandate in the March election, a vote seen as a test for his controversial decision to turn over Gaza and parts of the West Bank to Palestinian control and dismantle Israeli settlements.
Sharon faced strong opposition to the disengagement plan within the right-wing Likud bloc he helped found. He decided in November to abandon his political home of three decades and form a new party, Kadima, in an effort to capture the center of the Israeli electorate, where support for his peace initiative is stronger.
Polls taken after the prime minister's move showed Kadima vaulting into the lead. However, the party is so closely associated with Sharon that his health problems are likely to inject significant uncertainty into the campaign.
In Washington, President Bush issued a statement saying he and first lady Laura Bush were "praying for his recovery."
"Prime Minister Sharon is a man of courage and peace," Bush said. "On behalf of all Americans, we send our best wishes and hopes to the prime minister and his family."
The two leaders have known each other since Bush was governor of Texas and had formed a close political bond that included a mutual antipathy toward dealing with Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, who died in 2004.
Olmert, 60, became Sharon's deputy prime minister in 2003 after serving 10 years as mayor of Jerusalem.
He took on the additional post of finance minister last year after Sharon's longtime rival within Likud, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, resigned to protest the Gaza pullout.
In December, Likud members picked Netanyahu to lead them into the March campaign.
Although Sharon had difficulty speaking during the mild stroke last month, neurological testing found that he recalled everything from the night of his admission, Dr. Chaim Lotem said.
Doctors said Sharon had suffered no lasting brain damage. He was released from the hospital two days after the stroke and resumed working.
Nicknamed "The Bulldozer" for his stamina during meetings and long working hours, he had not been in ill health prior to the initial stroke. He is twice widowed, has two sons and lives alone.
Doctors ordered the overweight prime minister to go on diet. Sharon's doctors said earlier this week that he weighed 118 kilograms (260.2 pounds) at the time of the first stroke, and had lost 3 kilos (6.6 pounds) since then.