Olmert to continue as Israel PM

Israel's Attorney General said Ehud Olmert can continue as Israel's acting premier until elections.

Ehud Olmert can continue as Israel's acting premier until the March 28 general election if Prime Minister Ariel Sharon remains incapacitated, Attorney General Menachem Mazuz said.

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"Following consultations held by the attorney general as well as an examination of the government's Basic Law ... The attorney general has formed a position according to which the temporary incapacitation will continue until the end of 100 continuous days," a statement from the justice ministry said.

However the position would be re-examined if "within that (100-day) period, the prime minister returns to office, according to clauses 16b to 20b of the government's Basic Law".

Olmert fully accepted Mazuz's verdict at a meeting on Sunday, the statement added. The 100-day period starting from when Sharon was hospitalised will take Israel well beyond election day.

Mazuz can theoretically declare a prime minister permanently rather than temporarily incapacitated but he is thought to have been reluctant to do so as such a verdict is irreversible.

Doctors have privately said that there is no realistic prospect of Sharon, who has been in a coma for 11 days, resuming his duties. The 77-year-old Sharon suffered a massive brain haemorrhage on January 4.