Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon clung to life today after a massive stroke that is likely to create a huge vacuum in Israeli politics and the Middle East peace process.
Surgeons said they stemmed the bleeding in the 77-year-old leader's brain in a seven-hour operation.
When asked if Sharon could be expected eventually to return to work, Dr Shlomo Mor-Yosef, director of Jerusalem's Hadassah hospital, where Mr Sharon is being treated, told reporters: "I must point out that, regarding the future, under the current circumstances it will not be possible."
"The prime minister's condition is . . . still critical but stable," Dr Mor-Yosef said.
He did not say in his latest update how much brain damage Mr Sharon may have suffered and gave no prognosis for recovery. He said doctors would aim to keep pressure on Mr Sharon's brain as low as possible.
Channel Two, quoting a Hadassah hospital official for its information, later reported that the Israeli leader was not in a vegetative state and had retained brain and heart functions.
Shlomo Mor-Yosef, Hadassah Hospital
A cerebral haemorrhage, or bleeding stroke, struck Mr Sharon late yesterday in the midst of his fight for re-election on a promise to end conflict with the Palestinians.
The former general, on whom the United States has pinned hopes for Middle East peace, has never designated a successor.
His deputy, Ehud Olmert, was named acting prime minister. But political analysts said the general election Mr
Sharon had been widely expected to win as head of a new centrist party would become an open race if he died or was incapacitated.
The Justice Ministry said under Israeli law the March 28th vote must go ahead as planned regardless of whether Mr Sharon runs.
Mr Sharon, seriously overweight and hit by a mild stroke on December 18th, was rushed for treatment late last night from his ranch in southern Israel after complaining he felt unwell.
He has been a dominant figure for decades in shaping the Middle East. The pullout of Israeli soldiers and settlers Mr Sharon completed in the Gaza Strip in September despite right-wing opposition in the Jewish state raised hopes for peace in the region.
Deputy Palestinian Prime Minister Nabil Shaath said he did not believe Mr Sharon ever had any faith in the peace process, but his condition would increase uncertainty over getting back to negotiations.
Battered by Mr Sharon's harsh measures to fight a five-year-old uprising, militant factions reacted with glee.
"The whole region will be better off with him absent," said powerful Islamic group Hamas. "Sharon was the one who carried out massacres and terrorism for decades against our people."