Sharon could still wake up, but chances slim

Jerusalem, Mar 6: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon could still pull out of his coma but chances are slim and no one can predict his mental state should he regain consciousness, the hospital treating him said today (Mar 6, 2006).

Sharon suffered a massive stroke on January. 4 and has been comatose since. Medical experts have said they do not expect the 78-year-old former general to recover.

''There is a chance the prime minister will wake up. The chances are not great but it is not something that can be ruled out,'' said Shlomo Mor-Yosef, directalem's Hadassah hospital.

''The condition he will be in if he wakes up is still an open question,'' he told a medical conference in Tel Aviv in remarks broadcast by Israeli Army Radio.

Sharon is listed as being in a critical, but stable condition at Hadassah.

He underwent emergency gery to remove a section of a damaged intestine after a worsening in his condition that prompted doctors to say he was in immediate danger.

After the successful operation, doctors said Sharon's main problem remained his continued state of unconsciousness.

REUTERS