Sharon vows to plough on after stroke

Palestinian militants in the Gaza strip hand out celebratory sweets after hearing of Sharon's illness. Picture / Reuters

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has vowed to continue in politics in his first statement after suffering a minor stroke.

Sharon, 77, battling for re-election at the head of a new centre-right party, was taken to hospital on Sunday for a brain scan after saying he did not feel well. Doctors said he suffered a minor stroke but his life was not in danger.

Interviewed on Israel's Army Radio, he said: "I've been at the front [of Israeli politics] for 60 years and I definitely plan to continue my job."

Sharon later said he felt "fine" and Israeli media reported that he joked with his doctors. His office said last night that the Prime Minister slept soundly and that he could leave hospital within a day.

The hospital was inundated with goodwill messages from around the world and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas wished Sharon a speedy recovery.

In the Gaza Strip, however, some Palestinians fired rifles in the air and handed out sweets in celebration, shouting "Death to Sharon". Some ultra-rightist Jews, who feel Sharon betrayed the settlement cause, also prayed that he would die.

Channel One television reported that Sharon had complained of feeling unwell to his son, Gilad, while travelling in his ministerial motorcade.

Sharon, 77, was unconscious when he arrived at Hadassah University Hospital, but he soon came round and underwent tests in the trauma unit.

Channel 2 reported Sharon was in a confused state and had been taken for a neurological scan. Witnesses said he was wheeled from the vehicle on a stretcher. Gilad and his other son Omri arrived soon afterwards.

Ehud Olmert, the Deputy Prime Minister, took over as Acting Premier. The heavily overweight Prime Minister's health and age have been lurking in the background throughout his premiership . The former general has never released his medical records but has insisted he is not suffering from any serious ailments.

If he is unable to return to work soon, his incapacity would blow Israel's general election campaign wide open. Kadima, the new party he launched last month after resigning from Likud, has more than a dozen former Likud parliamentarians and a commanding lead in the polls, all but guaranteeing that Sharon would remain Prime Minister for a third term. But it is dependent on his appeal.

Without Sharon, there would be no reason to vote for it on March 28. Kadima has no manifesto nor even a definitive list of candidates, let alone an obvious successor with comparable stature. Olmert is a divider rather than a uniter. Ministers who defected with Sharon would be left bobbing helplessly on the waves.

A weakened Kadima would give new heart to Labour, which had started flagging under its recently elected leader, Amir Peretz. Likud, which is to choose its new leader this week, would be back with a fighting chance. Most of Kadima's supporters came from Likud and might be tempted to switch back.

Sharon's absence would also cast a shadow over the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Here, too, Israel's policy is Sharon's, though he keeps the fine details close to his chest. He promised, for example, to draw a final border between Israel and a Palestinian state. It would, he said, include withdrawal from some West Bank settlements.

With this summer's Gaza disengagement, Sharon showed he had the strength and determination to evacuate Jews without provoking civil war. It is unlikely anyone else could continue his efforts. Likud front-runner Binyamin Netanyahu, a right-winger, would not wish to try.

- REUTERS, INDEPENDENT