Sharon tops world headlines

The passing of former-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's did not go unnoticed in the world, and the leading papers from around the globe paid their respect to the historic event.

The BBC website selects the news of Sharon's death as its top story, and gives live coverage of updates and reactions from around the world

The Wall Street Journal, considered a fairly conservative newspaper, choose the title 'Israel mourns a warrior'

But not all responses were positive, in its obituary of Sharon, the Palestinian news agency Ma'an said Sharon "promoted efforts to take over Arab-owned lands and give them to Jews, with the intent of preventing Arabs who had fled from returning."

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Regarding the Lebanon War, the Palestinian news agency claimed that Sharon "presided over the bloody Israeli invasion of Lebanon… (which) killed around 20,000 Lebanese and Palestinians, and was brutal even by the standards of the ongoing civil war."

"In the most notorious episode of Sharon's career, he presided over and facilitated the massacre of around 3,500 unarmed Palestinian civilians in Sabra and Shatila in southern Beirut by Israeli-supported Lebanese Phalangist militias," the news agency wrote.

As a result of Israel's Sharon-led entrance to Lebanon, Ma'an claimed he was in fact responsible for the formation and rise of power of Hezbollah: "The brutality of the invasion of Lebanon united previously divided Lebanese factions against Israel and led to the creation of the Lebanese political party and militant group Hezbollah."

The New York Times features on its homepage an article by Ethan Bronner, former NYT Jerusalem Bureau Desk Editor, titled 'A champion of Zionism and an unforgiving General.'

The Washington Post terms Sharon 'Israel's 'Warrior''

The CNN website devotes extensive space to Sharon, calling him "a giant of the Israeli military"

The Italian "La Repubblica" notes Sharon's involvement in the Sabra and Shatila massacre in their byline

The British "Telegraph" feature a piece by Chief Foreign Correspondent and former Middle East correspondent David Blaire, titled "Why Ariel Sharon was important"

The British Guardian newspaper

The Der Spiegel news magazine, generally identified with the Left, chooses the title "Life of War"

The Spanish newspaper El Pais

The RIA Novosti Russian newspaper