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Middle East and North Africa

Israeli ex-premier Ariel Sharon dies in Tel Aviv

The former Israeli premier has been in a coma since 2006

© EPA/KEVIN FRAYER/POOL

TEL AVIV, January 11, 17:31 /ITAR-TASS/. Israeli former premier Ariel Sharon has died at the Sheba Medical Centre of Tel Hashomer Hospital in Tel Aviv, Sharon’s son, Gilad, said on Saturday.

“He passed when he wanted to pass,” Gilad told journalists.

Medics said on January 1 that Sharon’s condition “deteriorated significantly”.

On January 2, director Tel Hashomer Hospital, Professor Zeev Rotstein said Sharon was in critical condition and his life was in danger after several vital organs failed.

The former Israeli premier has been in a coma since 2006 following a stroke that incapacitated him at the height of his political power.

As a politician, Sharon became known as “the bulldozer” for his bold tactics, contempt for his critics and hard-line approach. He was elected to premiership in 2001. In 2005, he directed the withdrawal of Israeli troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip, bringing an end to the country’s 38-year military control of the territory. Later quitting the Likud Party, he formed a more central Kadima Party.

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