Ariel Sharon dies after 8 years in coma

Former Israel’s PM Ariel Sharon has died at the age 85 after spending 8 years in a coma following a stroke.

Ariel Sharon was a giant of the Israeli military and political scene, but courted controversy throughout his long career.

The head of the Sheba Medical Centre near Tel Aviv said Ariel Sharon had died on Saturday afternoon of heart failure.

Ariel Sharon’s health had declined for the past week and a half, he said.

He fought in Israel’s war of independence in 1948, and from that point until he slipped into a coma in 2006 it seemed there was hardly a moment of national drama in which he did not play a role, our correspondent says.

Ariel Sharon, who became PM in 2001, was suffering from a malfunction of several organs including the kidneys, doctors said on Thursday.

His health was showing signs of “a slow and gradual deterioration” and his life was in danger, they added.

Ariel Sharon had been in a persistent vegetative state since a stroke in 2006.