The Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv, where Sharon is being treated, said the former leader's kidneys were failing and that changes were detected in his brain membrane. Sharon, 78, has been in a coma since suffering a massive stroke in January.

Sharon personified Israel's military might for decades, and Israelis were stunned to see him felled by illness.

The Japan Times Weekly: July 29, 2006
(C) All rights reserved