Mozart, food used to stimulate Sharon senses

With Israelis observing a nationwide vigil for the 77-year-old leader many had seen as their best hope for peace with the Palestinians, campaigning for a March 28 election that Sharon had been favoured to win ground to a halt.

Six days after Sharon suffered his stroke, doctors still do not know how badly his faculties had been impaired, and medical experts say even if he survives he will have little chance of recovering enough to return to resume his duties.

‘‘They will continue to gradually reduce the sedatives and they will observe his responses,’’ Ron Kromer, spokesman for Jerusalem’s Hadassah hospital, told Army Radio. ‘‘This is a process that could take several days.’’

Sharon’s two sons played Mozart symphonies at his bedside in an effort to elicit a response, and when they spoke to him an electronic monitor showed changes in his brain wave pattern, the Maariv newspaper reported.

Among the ways doctors hope to stimulate his senses is to place his favourite foods, including a plate of shawarma, a sliced meat dish, in his hospital room, Israel Radio said.

‘‘We cannot say he is out of danger,’’ Chief Surgeon Felix Umansky told reporters on Monday, adding Sharon had not yet opened his eyes or regained consciousness.