Sharon resumes breathing on his own

PRIME Minister Ariel Sharon resumed breathing on his own yesterday and moved his right hand and leg in response to stimulation as doctors started weaning him off the sedatives keeping him in a coma.

Mr Sharon's chief neurosurgeon, Dr Felix Umansky, said the leader's response to pain stimulation was a "very important" sign, but it was too early to assess Mr Sharon's ability to think and reason after suffering a massive stroke last Wednesday. It will take days to wean the 77-year-old premier off sedatives.

By yesterday afternoon, Mr Sharon had begun breathing on his own, though he was still on a respirator to assist him, said Dr Shlomo Mor-Yosef, director of Hadassah Hospital.

Doctors said they applied pressure to a part of Mr Sharon's body that usually causes pain. Mr Sharon's blood pressure rose during the stimulation a positive sign and he lifted his right hand and right leg slightly.

Mr Sharon remained in a critical condition. It is too early to say how the massive bleeding in the right side of Mr Sharon's brain will affect his cognitive abilities or the left side of his body.

The doctors could put Mr Sharon back in a coma if his condition worsens, he said.

One of Mr Sharon's neurosurgeons said it was unlikely he could function as prime minister again.

After the sedatives, doctors will pass their assessment of brain damage to Attorney General Meni Mazuz, who then will decide whether to declare the prime minister permanently incapacitated.

Ehud Olmert, Mr Sharon's deputy, was named acting prime minister after Mr Sharon's second stroke and can serve in that role for 100 days.

In the event the attorney general declares permanent incapacitation, the cabinet would elect a new prime minister within 24 hours, choosing from the five cabinet ministers from Mr Sharon's Kadima Party.

Mr Sharon, Israel's most popular politician, was seen by many here as the best hope for resolving the Israel-Palestinian conflict. His abrupt illness and expected departure from the Mideast political stage has raised concern that momentum on territorial concessions, created by his recent Gaza Strip withdrawal, would be stopped, and that his successor would not have the stature to forge ahead on drawing Israel's final borders.

Before his collapse, Mr Sharon appeared headed to a landslide victory in March 28 elections at the head of the Kadima Party.