Surgeons in Israel have finished an emergency operation on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who was rushed to the operating room earlier Friday, after doctors detected a rise in pressure on his brain and more bleeding.
A hospital spokesperson said the surgery lasted more than four hours, and that the 77-year-old leader was taken from the operating room for a brain scan.
Earlier, Doctor Shlomo Mor-Yosef, the director of Jerusalem's Hadassah hospital, said a brain scan revealed new hemorrhaging and swelling on Mr. Sharon's brain that would require emergency surgery.
The Israeli prime minister has been in serious condition in a medically induced coma since surgeons stemmed bleeding in his brain Thursday to relieve pressure caused by a massive stroke.
Mr. Sharon was rushed to the Jerusalem hospital Wednesday night, after falling ill at his ranch in the Negev desert. He suffered a minor stroke in December, and had been scheduled to undergo a procedure Thursday to plug a tiny hole in his heart that doctors diagnosed during his recovery last month.
Mr. Sharon's deputy, Ehud Olmert, has taken over as acting prime minister.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP, and Reuters