Turmoil predicted in Middle East after Sharon stroke

Ariel Sharon’s massive stroke yesterday was sure to throw both Israeli politics and Middle East peacemaking efforts into turmoil, perhaps raising the electoral fortunes of hard-line opponents such as Benjamin Netanyahu and damaging prospects for a deal with the Palestinians.

The Israeli prime minister broke away from his hard-line Likud Party in November, and the new centrist party he formed, Kadima, had been the strong favourite to win March 28 elections. But Kadima was largely a one-man show, and no one knows its future without the 77-year-old Sharon.