MIDDLE EAST: Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon began breathing on his own and moving his limbs slightly yesterday, the first signs of improvement as doctors attempt to rouse him from an induced coma to assess brain damage from a massive stroke last week.
While medical bulletins have indicated a slight improvement in Mr Sharon's chances of survival, doctors say there is a strong likelihood that the bleeding in his brain will have caused impairment.
The director of the Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem, Dr Shlomo Mor-Yosef, said that following a reduction in sedatives, Mr Sharon began breathing spontaneously yesterday afternoon, despite remaining connected to a ventilator.
"During the day, in response to pain that we evoked, he started to move minimally his right hand and right leg. These signs, together with slight elevation of his blood pressure as a reaction to the pain, are signs of some brain activities, but still the condition of the prime minister is severe and critical."
Doctors plan to continue lowering sedation levels in the coming days to allow Mr Sharon to regain consciousness, but they could put him under again if his condition worsens. Outside experts say there is no guarantee he will awaken from anaesthesia.
Neurosurgeon Felix Umansky, the head of team caring for Mr Sharon, said the initial signs of revival were "just the beginning of a long way that he needs to go, and we need to be very cautious when taking about the prognosis."
However, his early responses were "a very important" sign, he said. "Once he talks to us . . . and there are no other infections, I will be willing to say that he is completely out of danger."
If medics determine that Mr Sharon is unfit to resume office ahead of elections in March, attorney-general Menachem Mazuz will ask the cabinet to elect a successor.
This is widely expected to be Ehud Olmert (60), Mr Sharon's deputy and the current interim prime minister.
As Israelis maintained their anxious vigil for their popular leader, the Israeli cabinet led by Mr Olmert made its first major decision in his absence, to permit limited campaigning in occupied East Jerusalem by candidates for Palestinian parliamentary elections this month.
Reversing an initial wholesale ban, Israel's internal security minister said candidates who did not represent militant factions would be permitted to campaign in East Jerusalem, provided they obtained Israeli police permits.
It remains unclear whether Israel will permit Palestinian Jerusalemites to vote in the city in polls due on January 25th or force them to travel to the West Bank.
Palestinians demand political rights in East Jerusalem, which they want as the capital of a future state. Israel has in the past allowed Jerusalem's 200,000 Palestinians to take part in national polls. Its new conditions were rejected by candidates from Palestinian factions, including the ruling Fatah movement and the Islamic militant group Hamas, which is expected to perform strongly.
Meanwhile, amid growing internal Palestinian violence and turmoil ahead of the polls, Palestinian interior minister Nasser Yousef has told colleagues he is concerned that armed gangs, particularly in Gaza, would disrupt voting if it becomes clear their candidates will lose.