GAZA, Dec. 18 (Xinhuanet) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is carefully following the news reports that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was ill, felt unconscious and was taken to hospital for treatment on Sunday night, said a senior Palestinian official.

    Rafiq Al-Husseini, Abbas' bureau chief, told the press that as soon as President Abbas heard the news that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon lost consciousness and was taken to the hospital, he is carefully following the news reports.

    Abbas is holding contacts to be briefed on the latest developments of Sharon's health, added the official.

    Meanwhile, some Palestinian militants gathered on Sunday night in the Gaza City and fired in the air to express their joy after hearing the news on Sharon's illness, witnesses said.

    Abu Haroon, Spokesman of Ahmed Abu Reesh Brigades, one of ruling Fatah movement's armed wings in southern Gaza Strip, said that Sharon is a tyrant and he should be responsible for the massacres "he committed during his life against our people." Sharon was rushed to Jerusalem hospital Sunday evening after suffering a minor stroke, local TV channels reported.

    Channel 2 television news said that 77-year-old Sharon was taken to Hadassah University Hospital after complaining of not feeling well.

    But local media reports said later that Sharon was in a stable condition after he was admitted to the hospital apparently for a minor stroke.

    Channel 10 TV quoted the hospital as saying that the prime minister's life was not in danger.

    In an official statement made some 45 minutes after Sharon arrived, a spokesman of the hospital told the press that Sharon was fully conscious and was undergoing tests. Enditem