Sharon in serious condition after stroke (AP) Updated: 2006-01-05 19:53
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was in serious condition Thursday following seven
hours of emergency surgery to stop widespread bleeding in his brain caused by a
life-threatening stroke, doctors said.
Vice Premier Ehud Olmert was named acting prime minister and convened the
Cabinet for a special session. Close Sharon associates said they did not expect
the 77-year-old prime minister to return to office.
A brain scan after surgery showed that the bleeding had been stopped, and
Sharon was transferred to the intensive care unit, said Dr. Shlomo Mor-Yosef,
the director of Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. Sharon remained sedated and on a
respirator, hospital officials said.
"At this point, all the vital signs are ... stable. The prime minister is
still in serious condition," Mor-Yosef said.
Sharon's stroke threw Israeli politics and diplomacy throughout the region
into turmoil amid election campaigns for both Israel and the Palestinians.
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