Israel's Sharon weaned off sedatives in revival bid

JERUSALEM - Doctors could end Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's sedation today in the boldest bid yet to rouse him from an induced coma and assess brain damage caused by a massive stroke, medical sources said.


A week into a health crisis that has cast a pall over Middle East peace prospects, the 77-year-old leader remained unconscious and in critical condition despite displaying basic physical reflexes as his anaesthetic was gradually reduced.


Surgeons tending to Sharon were expected to decide on when to stop the intravenous drip completely at a daily consultation scheduled for 7am (6.00pm NZDT), medical sources said.


"The prime minister's treatment is constantly being reviewed, but the decision to end sedation outright requires a major deliberation," a source said.


Even with Sharon completely off the drugs, it could be days before doctors assess the extent of the damage he suffered from a Jan. 4 brain haemorrhage. With his hospitalisation predicted to last months more, Sharon's political career may well be over.


As Israelis kept vigil for the former army general many had seen as their best hope for peace with the Palestinians, the first cracks formed in a moratorium on campaigning ahead of a March 28 election that he had been favoured to win easily.


His likely successor as head of the centrist Kadima party, interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, received a boost from newspaper polls showing the party would crush its rivals even without Sharon, who raised peace hopes by pulling settlers and troops out of Gaza in September after 38 years of occupation.


Much of Sharon's popularity in Israel stems from a belief that he could take diplomatic action that no one else could get away with, given his background as an archetypal hawk.


He had hinted at giving up some occupied land in the West Bank, but vowed to hold on to major settlement blocs there, a prospect Palestinians said would deny them a viable state.


Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told British Sky television he wished Sharon well, but added:


"I believe Mr Sharon went the opposite way, he chose ... unilateralism, he went the unilateral way ... and this brought him and his people no peace and no security ... This is why I am offering to Olmert to come back to the negotiating table."


Israelis stunned by the loss of Sharon, who has dominated the country's politics in recent years like no figure since founding Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, have been buoyed by signs his condition is improving -- albeit slowly.


While doctors who at first feared he could succumb to his haemorrhage now generally agree that Sharon will live, they caution against hoping for a quick -- or any -- return to work.


One of Sharon's neurosurgeons, Jose Cohen, told an Israeli television station it would be months before he left hospital.


"Do not think of this in terms of days, or in terms of weeks. This will take a long time," Cohen told Channel One.


"The prime minister's life is still in danger," he said, but added: "The further we move from the initial incident (stroke), the more this risk is reduced."


Sharon moved his left hand on Tuesday after showing response on his right side a day before. But he has yet to open his eyes.


If doctors declare Sharon permanently incapacitated, they will pass on their finding to Israel's attorney general. The cabinet would then elect an acting prime minister from among Kadima's cabinet members who are also parliamentarians.


Olmert is seen as all but certain to keep the job in the run-up to the March election, easily beating Kadima's nearest rival, centre-left Labour Party chief Amir Peretz, as well as the right-wing Likud under former premier Benjamin Netanyahu.


Likud's four cabinet members were to tender resignations from the government on Thursday under instructions from Netanyahu, Channel Two television said. Likud ministers earlier postponed the walkout in respect for Sharon's health crisis.


But many Israelis doubt Olmert, 60, a former Jerusalem mayor and Sharon loyalist who has served in the prime minister's shadow, has the stature and charisma to take bold steps with the Palestinians that Sharon may have envisioned.


- REUTERS