JERUSALEM, Jan. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Doctors at Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital successfully performed a tracheotomy on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Sunday evening to help him breathe and wean him off respirator.

    During the procedure, doctors placed Sharon under general anesthesia before cutting a small hole in the neck and inserting a tube directly into his windpipe.

    Sharon, who suffered a massive stroke and brain hemorrhage on Jan. 4, had been hooked up to respirator through a plastic tube placed in his nostril or mouth.

    Doctors said last week that Sharon might have to undergo the procedure because the plastic tube will start to cause him damage if it remains in for too long.

    Following the operation, Sharon was also expected to undergo a brain scan.

    The hospital said in a statement that Sharon remained incritical but stable condition Sunday evening, hours ahead of the surgery.

    There has been no significant change in his condition since doctors lowered the level of sedatives that had kept him in an induced coma to give his brain time to heal from the stroke and the three surgeries that followed.

    Doctors said Saturday that Sharon, who has been unconscious since suffering his devastating stroke, had activities on both sides of his brain. Enditem