Sharon critical after emergency surgery.

(From Guardian Unlimited)

Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, underwent emergency surgery today after an abdominal scan revealed severe damage to his digestive tract.

Doctors removed a section of his large intestine, and there was no immediate threat to the ailing leader's life, hospital officials said.

Dr Shlomo Mor-Yosef, director of Hadassah Hospital, said doctors removed about 50cm (20 in) of Sharon's intestine. He said the section amounted to about one third of the intestine.

Mor-Yosef said Sharon was in critical but stable condition after the procedure, adding there is "no immediate danger to his life."

It was the …