Sharon shows further improvement

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon showed further improvement yesterday from a massive stroke, moving his left side for the first time since doctors started bringing him out of an induced coma.

Hadassah hospital director Shlomo Mor-Yosef said that while Mr Sharon's medical team had seen slight progress as they reduced his sedation to assess brain damage, he remained in "severe, critical" condition.

But doctors said Mr Sharon's life was in no immediate danger. "Metaphorically speaking, we have backed five metres away from the edge of the cliff," Dr Yoram Weiss, one of Mr Sharon's anaesthesiologists, told reporters.

With Israelis keeping a nationwide vigil for the 77-year-old leader, many had seen as their best hope for peace with the Palestinians, campaigning for a March 28 general election that Mr Sharon had been favoured to win ground to a halt.

Six days after Mr Sharon suffered his stroke, doctors still did not know how badly his faculties had been impaired, and medical experts say even if he survives, he will have little chance of recovering enough to resume his duties.

Doctors said it would be several days before the sedatives wore off completely and they could start gauging Mr Sharon's ability to think and reason. He has yet to open his eyes. "We have a long way to go and we need to be patient," Mr Weiss said.

Another doctor said when one of Mr Sharon's sons spoke, the prime minister's blood pressure rose. Mozart symphonies were played at his bedside in an effort to elicit a response.

Among the ways doctors hope to stimulate his senses is to place his favourite foods, including a plate of shawarma, a sliced meat dish, in his hospital room, Israel Radio said.

The loss of Mr Sharon, who raised peace hopes by pulling settlers and troops out of Gaza in September after 38 years of occupation, would deepen uncertainty over the future of Middle East diplomacy.

Despite fears of a political vacuum in Mr Sharon's absence, the United States has since discreetly resumed its efforts for progress between Israel and the Palestinians.