The widely-predicted end to Ariel Sharon's political career today polarised opinion in the Arab world, with some commentators describing it as an "earthquake" while others said it was "a gift from god".

The two main Arab satellite channels, al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya, offered non-stop coverage with reports from outside his hospital accompanied by interviews with aides.

The Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds, published in occupied East Jerusalem, ran the banner headline: "Sharon fights death". The Al-Ayyam in Ramallah announced: "Sharon in a complete coma."

In the Gulf, news about the Israeli leader competed with the funeral prayers for Sheik Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the emir of Dubai and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates who died yesterday.

In Lebanon, the As-Safir newspaper ran the headline: "Sharon is at death’s door and Israel is on the brink of political strife."

Sateh Noureddine, the managing editor, wrote: "It’s an earthquake, whose aftershocks will be local - Israeli and Palestinian - because the (Middle East) conflict has become a Palestinian-Israeli one."

An-Nahar newspaper, Lebanon's biggest-selling daily, added: "Sharon’s coma shuffles the political cards in Israel and the region."

In Iran, state television reported his deteriorating condition without comment. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has triggered an international outcry with a series of anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish comments, including calling for Israel to be "wiped off the map."

In the Occupied Territories, where the implications of Sharon's political demise will be felt most keenly, the hatred among radicals remained vehement.

"The world is on the verge of being rid of one of its worst leaders," the chief Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP. "Sharon’s fate is divine intervention reserved for despots and evil-doers."

The view was echoed by radicals in Syria, where Ahmed Jibril, leader of the Syrian-backed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, described Sharon’s health crisis as a gift from God.

"We say it frankly that God is great and is able to exact revenge on this butcher... We thank God for this gift he presented to us on this New Year," he said.

A Palestinian commentator on the respected Al-Arabiya network, however, offered Mr Sharon unexpected praise as "the first Israeli leader who stopped claiming Israel had a right to all of the Palestinian’s land".

"A live Sharon is better for the Palestinians now, despite all the crimes he has committed against us," said Ghazi al-Saadi.

Ali Badwan, a Palestinian living in Damascus, said that Mr Sharon was "the dinosaur of the Israeli political Right and his legacy was the bloodiest of any Israeli against the Palestinian people. The Palestinian people would not mourn his passing from the political scene."

Highlighting the emerging divide within the Palestinian community, Ahmed Qurei, the Palestinian Prime Minister, wished Mr Sharon a swift recovery.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with Prime Minister Sharon, the Israeli government and people. We wish the prime minister a full and quick recovery," he said.

In the West, where Mr Sharon was widely regarded as being central to the peace process, there was a generally sombre tone.

President Jacques Chirac of France who repeatedly praised Mr Sharon's decision to withdraw from Gaza, said that his "courageous" peace efforts must continue.

Dennis Ross, a special envoy during former US president Bill Clinton’s efforts to bring peace to the Middle East, expressed fears that Israel lacked "a built-in anointed successor"

"You have real uncertainty in Israel, paralleled by what is increasing chaos among Palestinians. You take away someone who has been the real driving force of any change and you take him out of commission... so I look at it as huge and very troubling."

Junichiro Koizumi, Japan's Prime Minister, has postponed a trip to Israel and Palestine later this week: "I’m concerned and I have heard that his condition is not very good. I hope he will recover soon," he said.

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