Medics begin waking Sharon

2006-01-09 10:40

Jerusalem - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was being gradually awoken Monday from a deep coma so his doctors can assess the extent of damage to his brain following a massive stroke.

The procedure will be the biggest breakthrough in his condition since the 77-year-old former general has been wired up to a life support machine after a huge brain haemorrhage and three operations.

Doctors say he could survive but have ruled out the chances of him returning as prime minister, leaving Israel staring into a political void expected to be felt far beyond the country's narrow borders in the wider Middle East.

A spokesperson for Jerusalem's Hadassah hospital said the doctors had decided to proceeed with the gradual awakening process after determining that there was no change in Sharon's "critical but stable" condition overnight.

"The consultations of the doctors have finished. The progressive awakening of the prime minister has begun," Yael Bossam-Levy said.

Doctors more confident

The director of the Hadassah had first announced on Sunday that medics planned rouse the prime minister from a drug-induced coma, intended to help his body rest, to evaluate the damage he has suffered.

"We will gradually reduce the depth of the anaesthesia, then we will be able to evaluate the neurological function of the prime minister's brain," Shlomo Mor Yosef told reporters.

Sharon has been comatose, in a critical sitution, since Wednesday night when he suffered his second stroke in less than three weeks, leaving Israelis addicted to television and radio bulletins for hourly news of his health.

After days of uncertainty, doctors have appeared more confident they can save his life but are warning his condition will not allow him to absorb the stresses of leading the Jewish state.

One doctor at the Hadassah told AFP on condition of anonymity that he was running a risk of paralysis or other difficulties that will prevent him from ruling the country.

"We are in no doubt that we will be able to revive him... but he will probably not be able to resume his duties," the source said.

- AFP