Ariel Sharon started breathing on his own Monday and moved his
right arm and leg in response to pain stimulation in what his
surgeon called an important development. But it will be days before
doctors can determine whether he is lucid or will be able to return
to the job.
"The prime minister is breathing spontaneously," said Dr. Shlomo
Mor-Yosef, the director of Hadassah Hospital, adding that the
movements of Sharon's arm and leg marked "a slight but significant
improvement."
Sharon's response is a "very important" sign and indicated his
brain stem is working, said his chief surgeon, Dr. Felix Umansky,
briefing reporters for the first time.
It is still too early, however, to assess what impact the
massive bleeding he suffered in his right brain would have on his
abilities to think and reason or on the left side of his body,
Umansky said.
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"We are just at the beginning of a very long way," the surgeon
said. "It's too early to talk about the cognitive issue."
A final medical analysis on Sharon's long-term prognosis would
end days of uncertainty over the fate of the 77-year-old prime
minister, heralded by many as the best hope for Mideast peace.
Doctors said his chances of survival are better, but he is far from
out of danger.
He remains hooked up to a respirator and unconscious in a
guarded room where classical music is being played.
More clarity as to Sharon's condition might enable his new,
centrist Kadima Party to select a successor and start campaigning
for March 28 elections. Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert —
Sharon's ally and a proponent of unilateral withdrawals from more
Palestinian-claimed lands — is seen as the most likely heir.
The Palestinians' political future, which was to be decided in
Jan. 25 parliament elections, also appeared in limbo.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas reiterated Monday that the vote
would take place on time, but Palestinian Interior Minister Nasser
Yousef that warned his security forces would not be able to protect
polling stations against gunmen. Some have worried that gangs from
Abbas' Fatah Party may attack polling stations if Fatah appears to
be losing to the Islamic militant Hamas party.
Sharon has been in a medically induced coma since his massive
stroke Jan. 4. Doctors plan to continue lowering the level of
sedatives in his body over the next several days, Mor-Yosef
said.
Sharon has not yet opened his eyes. His doctors hope he will
when the sedative levels are lowered further, though outside
experts cautioned there was no assurance he would wake up at
all.
"His chances of survival are better than if the respiratory
center had been damaged, but that still doesn't mean he's going to
survive," said Dr. John Martin, a professor of cardiovascular
medicine at University College in London. He said Sharon's weight
and age worked against him.
Israel TV's Channel 2 quoted Sharon's advisers, who are keeping
watch by his side, as saying he also responded to words in some
fashion, though they weren't specific.
Doctors had kept Sharon in an induced coma to help him recover
from the stroke and brain surgeries, and Umansky said the doctors
could put Sharon under again if his condition worsens.
The doctors' final assessment on Sharon's brain damage, whenever
it comes, will be presented to Attorney General Meni Mazuz, who
will decide whether to declare the prime minister permanently
incapacitated.
In the event of such a ruling, the Cabinet would have to elect a
prime minister within 24 hours, from among the five sitting Kadima
Cabinet ministers who are also lawmakers, said Justice Ministry
spokesman Yaakov Galanti.
Olmert, who is among the five, was named acting prime minister
after Sharon's stroke, and can serve in the role for 100 days,
which would carry him through the elections.
The uncertainty over Sharon's condition has unsettled Israelis,
who have been anxiously following news updates. At the entrance to
the hospital Monday, three Jerusalemites hung up a white sheet with
blue lettering in English and Hebrew that read, "Ariel Sharon,
there is more to do, please wake up."
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In the Gaza Strip, where Sharon is reviled for his tough policies
on Palestinians, 40 masked gunmen from the Al Aqsa Martyrs'
Brigades militant group held a demonstration against the Israeli
prime minister. One held a gun to a photo of Sharon that was
labeled "the killer of children" and then burned the picture.
Before Sharon's stroke, he had been expected to handily win
re-election in March, then use his third term to try to draw
Israel's final borders by pulling out of large parts of the West
Bank and completing a separation barrier with the Palestinians.
Former US President Clinton said Sharon's stroke is a blow to
peace efforts. "All of us who believe in peace in the Middle East
are in his debt, and so more than anything else, I pray for his
health," he said.
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Monday that
Sharon's death would be a serious defeat for United States policy
in the Middle East, state-run radio reported.
"The Americans have been defeated in Palestine since the butcher
of the Palestinians, who intended to destroy the Palestinian
Intifada, has come to his end," the radio quoted Khamenei as saying
to a group of visitors.
On Thursday Iran's hard-line president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said
he hoped for the death of Sharon.
Amid uncertainty over Sharon, US Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice was sending two envoys to the Middle East to try to resolve an
Israeli-Palestinian dispute over the participation of Arab
residents of Jerusalem in the Palestinian parliament election.
Abbas has said such participation is a requisite for holding the
election, and he said Monday he had received US assurances
Palestinians would be able to vote in the city, despite Israeli
opposition.
Earlier Monday, Israel allowed campaigning in Jerusalem, a
conciliatory step, but said it has not yet decided whether to
permit voting.
(Chinadaily.com via agencies January 10, 2006)
