JERUSALEM, Jan. 6 (Xinhuanet) -- After a more than three-hour operation on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was taken to an additional CT scan to assess the success of the surgery.

   Jerusalem Hadassah Hospital, where Sharon was hospitalized, was expected to report on the findings later in the day.

   Earlier Friday, Sharon was rushed back to the operating room for the third time within 48 hours after a CT scan showed new bleeding in his brain.

   Director of Hadassah Hospital Dr. Shlomo Mor-Yosef told reporters that Sharon was experiencing an escalation in cranial and blood pressure.

   "It was decided to bring the prime minister to the operating room in order to deal with these two issues, to drain the bleeding and to decrease the intracranial pressure," he said.

   Before the CT scan, Mor-Yosef reported Friday morning that Sharon's condition remained serious but stable and that his vital signs remained strong.

   Mor-Yosef said that Sharon would remain under heavy sedation and on a respirator for at least 48 hours or more. He said the treatment would decrease pressure in the prime minister's skull.

   After the sedation period, doctors hope to gradually waken the prime minister. "We are fighting for the life of the prime minister with no compromise," Mor-Yosef said.

   Mor-Yosef said that Sharon's pupils were responding to light, "which means the brain is functioning."

   The hospital chief also defended the decision to take Sharon to the Jerusalem hospital, a journey of an extra 30 minutes, rather than drive to the nearer medical center in the Israeli city of Be'er Sheva. He said that it was better for the prime minister to have been treated at the hospital that knew his case.

   Mor-Yosef said the operation on Sharon had focused on the right side of his brain, and that he was paralyzed during the procedure. "The paralysis was a paralysis that we, the doctors, created," he said.

   Sharon underwent nine hours of emergency surgery to stop a massive brain hemorrhage Thursday after the prime minister suffered a severe stroke on Wednesday night. Enditem