FILES-MIDEAST-ISRAEL-SHARON

(FILES) -- File picture dated 12 August 1982 shows Israeli defence minister at the time, Ariel Sharon, assisting at a Knesset debate in Jerusalem, on Israel's war in Lebanon. Israel braced 07 January 2006 for the end of an era as the Israeli prime minister remained critically ill in a medically-induced coma after undergoing more surgery to stop bleeding in his brain. The demise of 77-year-old Sharon, the one-time arch hawk who pulled Israeli settlers out of the Gaza Strip, has sparked fears of new turmoil in a region struggling to find the path to peace after decades of conflict. AFP PHOTO/HO