Ariel Sharon’s condition ‘getting worse’

The condition of critically ill former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon is deteriorating further, doctors say.

Dr Zeev Rotstein of Tel Hashomer hospital near Tel Aviv said today that Mr Sharon’s life remains in danger. He says he is fighting and is not in pain.

The 85-year-old has been in a coma for eight years after a devastating stroke incapacitated him at the peak of his political power. He was reported in “critical condition” yesterday.

Dr Rotstein says “there is a slow and gradual deterioration,” with doctors now seeing not only Mr Sharon’s kidneys but other vital organs malfunctioning as well.

He was one of Israel’s most celebrated and controversial figures. A prominent hard-line voice over the decades, he was elected prime minister in 2001.