|
Sharon in serious condition after stroke
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-05 19:53
U.S. National Security Council official Elliott Abrams and State Department
official David Welch were to have met with Sharon on Thursday evening,
apparently to urge Israel to reverse a decision to ban Palestinian voting in
disputed Jerusalem. But Palestinians said that they had postponed their trip to
the region because of Sharon's illness.
Abbas has said he may not hold elections if Jerusalem, claimed by the
Palestinians as a capital, is excluded.
"We hope that this (Sharon's illness) will not affect what we had expected of
the Israelis," said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat. If Olmert puts off a
decision on Jerusalem, "it means the Palestinian election is going down," Erekat
said.
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi postponed his visit, scheduled to
begin Sunday, Japan's Foreign Ministry said.
Israelis and world leaders expressed concern and offered prayers for Sharon.
In a statement, President Bush praised Sharon as "a man of courage and
peace," saying he and first lady Laura Bush "share the concerns of the Israeli
people ... and we are praying for his recovery."
Israel's stock market plunged 5.4 percent on news of Sharon's stroke.
Israeli Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger called on Israelis to read Psalms and pray
for Sharon. "We are very, very worried," he said, and prayed for "mercy from
Heaven."
Pan-Arab satellite television broadcasters beamed out largely
straightforward, nonstop live coverage from outside the hospital where Sharon —
a particularly despised figure among many Arabs — struggled for his life.
Ahmed Jibril, a radical Palestinian leader in Damascus, Syria, called the
stroke a gift from God.
Speaking to reporters outside the hospital, Sharon aide Raanan Gissin warned
Israel's enemies: "To anyone who entertains any notion to try and exploit this
situation ... the security forces and IDF (Israeli military) are ready for any
kind of challenge," he said.
But a Palestinian commentator on the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya network offered
Sharon unexpected praise as "the first Israeli leader who stopped claiming
Israel had a right to all of the Palestinians' land," a reference to Israel's
Gaza withdrawal.
"A live Sharon is better for the Palestinians now, despite all the crimes he
has committed against us," said Ghazi al-Saadi.
|
