Sharon fighting for his life

Israeli police officers stand guard in front of the entrance to the emergency room at the Hadassah Ein Karem hospital, during the surgery on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Picture / Reuters

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was continuing to fight for his life this afternoon after suffering a "massive" brain haemorrhage.

Sharon was hospitalised this morning NZ time and was undergoing surgery. Senior sources said he may not survive.

His death or incapacitation would cause political upheaval in Israel ahead of a March 28 general election he had been expected to win on a platform of ending conflict with the Palestinians. He has been prime minister since 2001.

"He has significant, massive cerebral bleeding ... the aim of the operation is to drain it," Hadassah hospital director Shmuel Shapira said.

"We have the largest team that Israeli medicine can offer, the most senior people." Sharon was still in surgery after over four hours.

Sharon's prime ministerial powers were transferred temporarily to his deputy, Ehud Olmert, cabinet secretary Yisrael Maimon told reporters outside Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem.

Sharon, a 77-year-old ex-general, has for decades been a key figure in shaping the Middle East.

He has dominated the political stage in the Jewish state and was widely expected to win re-election in March on a platform of ending conflict with the Palestinians.

"It looks very bad. I don't know if he will recover," said one senior political source.

Sharon is very much a one-man show and if he had to leave the scene it would inevitably mean major political upheaval. Recent polls have not shown Olmert to be seen as a long term successor.

The Israeli leader, who orchestrated a pullout from the Gaza Strip last September to end 38 years of occupation, that raised hopes for Middle East peace, suffered what doctors described as a mild stroke on December 18.

He took ill at his Sycamore ranch in southern Israel on Wednesday, on the eve of a scheduled operation to repair a tiny hole in his heart thought to have contributed to his stroke last month.

Sharon spent several days in hospital but ploughed back into a punishing public schedule ahead of an Israeli general election scheduled for March 28.

Opinion polls have shown Sharon, prime minister since 2001, was on course to win the ballot as leader of the new centrist Kadima faction he founded after quitting the right-wing Likud party in the face of a party rebellion over the Gaza pullout.

- REUTERS