Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Monday responded to pain stimulus, which was described as "a slight but significant" improvement, following steps to bring him gradually out of a medically-induced coma.

Doctors at Hadassah Hospital where Sharon is being treated began to reduce his sedation on Monday morning and the 77-year-old then began to breath on his own.

Hadassah Hospital director Shlomo Mor-Yosef announced earlier on Monday that the prime minister had begun breathing on his own after the amount of sedative he is receiving was reduced, but that he is still connected to a respirator.

The level of sedation is to be reduced gradually to gauge Sharon's responsiveness and the extent to which the 77-year-old leader's faculties have been impaired, Mor-Yosef told reporters.

"The prime minister started immediately to breathe on his own but he's still hooked up to a respirator," he said.

The director also revealed that Sharon's blood pressure rose during pain stimulation and that he slightly moved his right hand and right leg.

"A small movement, but significant," he said.

But Mor-Yosef also said that Sharon was still in "critical" condition and that the process of weaning Sharon totally off the sedation could take hours or days.

"This was a clear reaction to pain, not a reflex," said Dr. Felix Umansky, head of the medical team that has operated on Sharon three times since his massive stroke on Wednesday in a bid to stem bleedings in his brain.

"This sign (the limb movement) together with slight elevation of his blood pressure as a reaction to the pain are signs of some activity of his brain," he said, adding that the prime minister had not yet opened his eyes.

However, the doctors cautioned that it would be several days before it became clear whether Sharon had suffered any cognitive damage or paralysis on the left side of his body.

The decision to try to awaken Sharon was taken after a brain scan on Sunday indicated that swelling of his brain had gone down, intracranial and blood pressures were within normal range and that cerebral fluid was draining well.

Doctors said that only after Sharon woke up that his motor and cognitive capabilities could be assessed.

Sharon, an ex-general and prime minister of Israel since 2001, suffered a massive stroke last Wednesday and had been under deep sedation.

The absence of Sharon, nicknamed "the Bulldozer", from office is widely seen as putting much uncertainty to the March 28 Israeli general elections, which Sharon was almost certain to win as head of his newly-founded Kadima party.

The sudden grave illness of the veteran politician, the architect of the Israeli Gaza withdrawal in September, has also cast cloud over the Mideast peace process.

Source: Xinhua