Sharon's coma may linger

JERUSALEM -- Doctors tending to Ariel Sharon are concerned that the prime minister has not shown signs of emerging from a coma and may take longer than hoped to regain consciousness, hospital sources said yesterday.

Neurologists at Jerusalem's Hadassah hospital tested Sharon's responses to pain, sound, and other stimuli to see if he would awaken from a medically induced coma after a massive stroke on Jan. 4.

Also, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom handed in his resignation yesterday, opening the way for a reshuffle in Israel's caretaker government.

A week into a health crisis that has cast a shadow over Middle East peacemaking and an upcoming Israeli election, doctors on Thursday had reduced sedatives that the kept 77-year-old Sharon in an unconscious state.

But Sharon has yet to open his eyes after sedatives were cut to a minimal level. He responded to pain stimuli on both sides of his body earlier in the week, but apparently has not made notable progress since then.

''The doctors are saying that as more time passes and he doesn't wake up, it's more worrisome," a hospital source said. Israeli media reported that concern was rising, but noted that patients may take days or weeks to awaken from a medically induced coma.

Outside medical specialists explained that Sharon was undergoing a crucial transition as sedatives were reduced. Even if he regains consciousness, it could be days before doctors can assess the impairment to his faculties.

''The brain damage is apparently more severe and if there hasn't been an improvement until now, if there will be an improvement, it will take a long time," Amos Korchin, head of the neurology faculty at Tel Aviv University, told Channel One Television.

Medical specialists do not expect Sharon will be capable of returning to political life. Ehud Olmert, interim prime minister, is likely to lead Sharon's newly formed Kadima party into Israel's March 28 general election.

A Hadassah spokeswoman declined comment beyond a statement that said there had been no change in Sharon's condition, listed as critical but stable.

Israel's political parties commenced primary elections to select candidates for the March vote. Opinion polls continued to predict victory for Kadima.

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, a former operative in the Mossad intelligence agency, is expected to take Shalom's place until the election, media reports said.