Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has died aged 85. He had been in a coma for eight years, following a stroke in 2006. <br /><br />On Saturday afternoon, an ambulance transporting Sharon’s body was driven away from the Sheba Medical Centre in Tel Aviv, where he had been cared for. <br /><br />His vital organs started to fail a week before his death. Doctors said that in the final days of his life he struggled “with surprising strength and determination”.<br /><br />Sharon’s family was at his bedside when he died.<br /><br />Part of military and political history for decades, Sharon was a divisive figure both within Israel and throughout the world.<br /><br />As an ex-political leader, he will be given a state funeral at which former and current world leaders are expected. Prior to this, his body will lie in state at the Knesset.<br /><br />Sharon’s state funeral will be followed by a more private ceremony at the Negev family ranch, which is where his second wife Lily is buried.<br /><br />Tributes and reactions to his death have been pouring in from all over the world.
