Sharon remains in deep coma
2006-01-06 09:02
Jerusalem - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon lay in a deep coma on Friday after doctors said it could take days before knowing whether the 77-year-old former general can win his fight for life.
Doctors said there'd been no change in his condition overnight but he remained on a life-support machine more than 24 hours after the end of an operation to staunch bleeding in his brain.
"There has been no change during the night. All the vital signs that we measure - blood pressure, intra-cranial pressure - all these vital signs have been stable, within the normal levels and this is positive," Shlomo Moryussef, director of the Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem, said.
A team of medics would meet later in the day to discuss whether Sharon should undergo another Computed Tomography (CT) brain scan, he added.
Israeli general election to go ahead
Moryussef had earlier said that Sharon could remain in the induced coma for several days. Felix Umansky, the Argentinian surgeon who headed up the team operating on Sharon, said it could be a week before doctors could assess whether Sharon has suffered permanent damage.
As some of his closest allies acknowledged he was unlikely ever to be able to return to office, Palestinian leaders expressed fears that his departure from politics could plunge the region into more bloodshed.
President George W Bush said the US was praying for the recovery of a leader he regarded as a strong man who "had a vision for peace".
The prime minister's deteriorating health comes as he was seeking election to a third term in office as head of his new centrist Kadima party.
For the moment at least, officials have said a scheduled general election in Israel will go ahead as planned in three months' time on March 28.
- SAPA