Former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon dies at 85

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon gestures at the end of his Likud Party's women conference in Tel Aviv in this March 10, 2005 file photo. [PHOTO: REUTERS]

ISRAEL: Ariel Sharon, the trailblazing former Israeli general and prime minister who was in a coma for eight years after he had a stroke at the height of his power, died on Saturday aged 85, his family and the government said.

Sharon's son Gilad announced the death at the hospital where his father had been treated. Doctors there had predicted his imminent death after his health declined sharply last week.