JERUSALEM, Feb. 6 (Xinhuanet) -- There has been no sign that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who has been in hospital since a Jan. 4 severe stroke, is likely to regain consciousness, doctors said on Monday.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, seen here in January 2005. (AFP/File)

   There has been no improvement in Sharon's condition, and he is still breathing with the aid of a respirator as Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital, where Sharon has been treated, still defines his condition as "serious but stable."

   Based on information released by the hospital, doctors not involved in Sharon's treatment said that his condition can bedefined as "vegetative."

   However, doctors said that the possibility that Sharon would regain consciousness, though slim, cannot yet be completely ruled out and that there was a slight chance that he could regain some of his physical and mental capabilities.

   "His age, his medical background and the dramatic nature of his stroke are not in the prime minister's favor," said Dr. Avraham Lazari, deputy director of the Re'ut rehabilitation hospital and an expert on rehabilitative medicine.

   But he added that people in Sharon's condition did occasionally regain consciousness.

   "The tendency worldwide is to wait until half a year has passed since the event in order to say whether the patient will regain full consciousness or not," Lazari said.

   The prime minister's own doctors have not yet offered any assessment of the likelihood of his regaining consciousness.

   Generally, a vegetative patient can breathe on his own, go through regular sleep cycles and may even make occasional involuntary movements such as opening eyes, but is not aware of his surroundings and cannot speak or heed instructions.  

  Veteran Israeli politician Sharon, architect of Israel's Gaza pullout last summer, has remained in critical but stable condition since he suffered a massive stroke and cerebral haemorrhage on Jan.4.

   Experts believe that the ex-general is unlikely to return to the Israeli political stage.  Enditem