JERUSALEM : Cabinet declares Sharon incapacitated
published: Wednesday | April 12, 2006

JERUSALEM (AP):

Israel's Cabinet yesterday declared ailing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon permanently incapacitated, marking the official end of his five-year tenure.

Sharon, 78, suffered a devastating stroke on January 4 and has been in a coma since.

After the stroke, Sharon's deputy, Ehud Olmert, immediately stepped in as his temporary replacement. Olmert has since won national elections as leader of the centrist Kadima Party, and has become the designated Prime Minister, assigned the task of forming a coalition government.