the operation room for his third surgery in 48 hours following a massive stroke, hospital doctors told reporters.
Speaking after the five-hour operation, the director of Jerusalem’s Hadassah Ein-Kerem Hospital, Dr. Shlomo Mor-Yosef, said Sharon was still in a "critical" condition, altough doctors managed to stop further bleeding in his brain.
He said the decision for Friday’s surgery was made after a scan showed a raise in cranial pressure and some bleeding in the brain of the prime minister, who has been in a "seduced coma" since Thursday, January 5.
"During the surgery, the intercranial pressure was released, the clotting from the previous operation was cleaned from the brain, and there is no active bleeding at the moment," he explained.
An aide to veteran Israeli politician Shimon Peres, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press (AP) news agency she had been told Sharon’s situation is "not good."
Doctors said earlier that the prognosis for recovery were not good and that Sharon was likely to die soon. On Thursday, January 5, doctors already tried to stop bleeding in the brain during seven hours of surgery. Sharon’s two sons, Omri and Gilad, reportedly remained by his bedside, Friday, January 6, the Voice Of America (VOA) network reported. Israel’s prime minister has been widowed twice.
Government offices closed Friday in observance of the Jewish Sabbath, which began at dusk, but Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and other senior government officials were monitoring Sharon’s condition closely.
CHRISTIANS PRAY
The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ), a Christian organization supporting Israel, earlier urged its supporters to pray. "Latest news reports indicate that Israel’s Prime Minister remains in a critical condition in Jerusalem’s Hadassah Hospital following a major stroke and brain hemorrhage late last night…Clearly, the nation is in a state of shock," said ICEJ Executive Director Malcolm Hedding.
"For all those that love Israel, this is a time of urgent prayer both for Mr. Sharon and the nation as a whole," he added in a statement monitored by BosNewsLife. "Please join with us in praying that God’s Kingdom will come and His Will be done at this critical hour."
The health emergency injected uncertainty into Israel’s March 28 election, in which Sharon’s moderate Kadima Party has been the front-runner.
ELECTION DOUBTS
Sharon had been expected to easily win re-election during the upcoming ballot as the head of the Kadima Party he created to free his hands for further peace moves with the Palestinians in the framework of the "road map” for Middle East peace.
However in a statement seen by BosNewsLife Sharon’s office said that Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made clear he would continue Sharon’s policies. Olmert already spoke late Thursday with Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmud Abbas, "who had telephoned in order to express his concern for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon," the Prime Minister’s Office said.
PALESTINIANS REACT
He said Abbas expressed hopes that Prime Minister Sharon will recover quickly. Acting Prime Minister Olmert told Abbas "that Prime Minister Sharon had told him that he is very interested in advancing both relations with the Palestinians and the peace process." Olmert also promised "that he would pass the message on to the Cabinet," the statement said.
Not all Palestinian were sad about Sharon’s health problems, and in Gaza children were seen handing out to celebrate news of the Israeli prime minister’s illness. "On the whole, Palestinians are shedding no tears for the man referred to as the "butcher", in Gaza and elsewhere for evicting thousands of Palestinians from their homes and overseeing many massacres," Aljazeera, the Arabic nes channel, said on its website.
The Islamic militant group, Hamas, strong contenders in this month’s Palestinian legislative elections, said the region "is better off without Sharon," Aljazeera reported. The Islamic Jihad was even blunter, telling Aljazeera that he "could go to hell for all it cared."
LEADERS REACT
However other leaders, including United States President George W. Bush, praised Sharon for pulling out Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip and removing settlers from the area as part of his efforts to reach peace between Israel and the Arab World.
That move also improved relations with the international community which had ill feelings about Sharon’s controversial role in the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon.
Sharon’s moderate Kadima party is expected to decide within the next few weeks whether Acting Prime Minister Olmert, 60, or someone else with take over as leader and continue Sharon’s peace efforts.
