Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon emerged from hours of surgery Thursday morning with vital signs showing proper levels, but his condition remained grave, doctors said.

Doctors had fought to stabilize Sharon's condition and stopped new bleeding detected in his brain Thursday morning, more than eight hours after the prime minister was rushed into emergency surgery having suffered a "far-reaching" stroke and a massive brain hemorrhage.

Professor Shlomo Mor-Yosef, director of Hadassah University Hospital, said in an earlier announcement that Sharon had been taken back to the operating room following a CT scan administered after more than six hours of surgery.

"We are in the continuation of this operation," Mor-Yosef told reporters. "There are additional areas that must be treated."  

"We expect the surgery will take several more hours. The prime minister is sedated and on a respirator. One could say his condition is grave," Mor-Yosef said.

Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who has taken over the prime minister post during Sharon's hospitalization, called an emergency cabinet meeting Thursday morning.

Olmert said the cabinet prayed for Sharon and the state of Israel is suffering a difficult time.

Sharon was rushed to the hospital shortly before 11 PM (21:00GMT) Wednesday night after complaining of chest pains, less than three weeks after suffering a mild stroke and the day before he was originally set to undergo a heart procedure.

Sharon's deteriorating health condition cast doubts over the prospects for his newly founded Kadima party on the upcoming general elections due on March 28 as well as for the stranded Mideast peace process.

(Xinhua News Agency January 5, 2006)