Ariel Sharon is given throat op

Sharon's cabinet met without him on Sunday

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has undergone a tracheotomy to help to wean him off a respirator, his doctors say.

Hospital officials say the procedure, in which a small hole was cut into his neck and a tube inserted into his windpipe, was a success.

Doctors are trying to wake Mr Sharon from a medically induced coma, 10 days after he suffered a massive stroke.

Tests have shown activity on both sides of Mr Sharon's brain. His condition is said to be serious but stable.

A new brain scan showed no change.

Doctors said Mr Sharon needed a tracheotomy because the plastic tube connecting the prime minister's windpipe to the respirator would start to cause him damage if it remained in for too long.

Correspondents say the operation is routinely performed on many stroke victims to reduce the risk of infection posed by intubation.

Doctors have been attempting to rouse Mr Sharon from his coma in order to determine the damage caused by the stroke, but he shows no sign of waking.

Medical observers say this may mean his comatose condition is due to the stroke itself and not the sedatives, AP says.

Voting decision

However, doctors at Jerusalem's Hadassah hospital have denied reports that they are concerned that the prime minister has not yet woken, with a spokesman saying that patients regain consciousness at different times after sedatives have been reduced.

Ron Krumer said it could take days or even weeks for Mr Sharon to wake up, and that doctors were not standing over him with a stopwatch.

ARIEL SHARON'S HEALTH Sharon suffers minor stroke on 18 December 2005 Doctors discover small hole in heart, schedule operation for 5 January Sharon rushed to hospital one day before scheduled surgery with major stroke Undergoes two operations overnight on 4/5 January, followed by third on 6 January What is a stroke?

The 77-year-old leader suffered a major stroke on 4 January and has remained in a coma following three operations to stem bleeding in his brain.

As Mr Sharon's coma drags on, Israelis are resigning themselves to the idea of a political future without him.

Israel's Attorney General Meni Mazuz released a statement on Sunday saying that under Israeli law Mr Sharon cannot be declared permanently incapacitated for another three months.

He directed Mr Sharon's replacement, Ehud Olmert, to stay on as acting prime minister until Israel goes to the polls on 28 March.

Earlier on Sunday, Mr Olmert's cabinet colleagues approved voting by Palestinian residents of occupied East Jerusalem in the 25 January elections.

The government had threatened to stop voting there, in protest at the participation of militant group Hamas in the Palestinian elections.