Sharon to be officially replaced as Israeli prime minister

ISRAELI Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who has been in a coma for three months, will be declared permanently incapacitated tomorrow, a decision that will signal the official end of his premiership.

Mr Sharon, 78, was declared temporarily incapacitated after he lapsed into a coma following a massive stroke on January 4.

Ehud Olmert stepped in for him immediately as acting prime minister, but under Israeli law, he can only serve in that capacity for up to 100 days before an official replacement for Mr Sharon has to be named.

That deadline expires on Friday, but because the week-long Jewish Passover holiday begins on Wednesday, the declaration of permanent incapacitation has been moved up to Tuesday - with the proviso that it not take effect if Mr Sharon's condition improves before the deadline, justice ministry spokesman Jacob Galanti said.

Mr Olmert, who won the March 28 elections, is expected to be named Mr Sharon's official replacement as he continues negotiating with smaller parties to form a governing coalition.

Officials at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, where Mr Sharon is being treated, said that discussions were still under way on whether to move him to a long-term care facility. Experts say his chances of recovery are extremely slim, given the gravity of his stroke and his persistent coma.

Hospital spokesman Ron Krumer defined Mr Sharon's condition as "serious but stable", a reflection that his life is not in immediate danger.

Last week, Mr Sharon underwent surgery to restore a part of his skull removed in previous operations after his stroke.

Meanwhile, a senior official said that Israel is to sever all ties with the Palestinian Authority and declare it a "hostile entity".

The move, designed to bypass the Hamas-led Palestinian government, would rule out any negotiations, including with the moderate Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.

Israel pounded the northern Gaza Strip with artillery fire over the weekend, killing a Palestinian police officer and wounding nine people as Israel escalated its retaliation for militant rocket attacks and put pressure on the new Hamas government that refuses to stop the attacks.

The shelling, which also set a plastics factory ablaze, was part of an offensive to stop the waves of rockets launched from Gaza into southern Israel. No Israelis were wounded in the rocket fire over the weekend.

In all, 15 Palestinians, including 13 militants and the child of one of the radicals, have died in Israeli air and artillery strikes since Friday.

Later the Islamic Jihad militant group vowed to step up its attacks on Israel "by all possible means".