Sharon's operation delayed due to a respiratory infection

An on ailing Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was delayed yesterday after doctors found an infection in his upper respiratory tract, hospital officials said.

Sharon, 78, has been comatose since suffering a stroke on Jan. 4. Doctors yesterday had planned to reattach a portion of his skull removed immediately after the stroke. It would have been his eighth surgery since falling ill.

Hadassah Hospital spokesman Ron Krumer said the surgery would be postponed until the infection, common in patients in Sharon's condition, is gone. The infection, discovered in a routine exam early yesterday, was being treated with antibiotics, he added.

"There are no rules to how long it could take to go away. It could take one day, it could take two days, it could take two weeks," Krumer said.

Krumer the planned operation was routine treatment for people in Sharon's condition, noting that "every opening in the body is a source for infection."

"It's his. We have to give it back at some point. We have to reattach the skull," Krumer said. He declined to say why doctors decided now was the time to reattach the skull.

"There are risks. There is no surgery without risks. The minute that you treat a person, and especially in his head, there are risks," Krumer said.

Sharon been treated at Hadassah since the stroke. Israel's Army Radio reported that the reattachment of the skull was the last step before Sharon is moved to a long-term care facility.

Krumer to confirm the report, but experts in long-term care have examined Sharon in recent weeks.

The stroke suddenly removed the popular prime minister from Israel's political landscape, shortly after he formed the centrist Kadima Party. The stroke shocked Israelis, many of whom believed the ex-general would bring them a more secure future.

Kadima last week's Israeli election, although by a smaller margin than was expected when Sharon headed the movement. Analysts have said the party's popularity was a result of Sharon's legacy.