Sharon shifted to intensive care

TEL AVIV: Former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, comatose since January, was transferred to intensive care Wednesday, a spokesman for the Tel Aviv hospital where he is being treated told reporters.

"Sharon has been taken to the intensive care unit," Anat Dolev said, adding that there had been no deterioration in his condition.

A Tel Shomer hospital statement said that Sharon was transferred to the intensive care unit in order to extract an "excess of liquids" from his body.

It added that Sharon's condition had been stable for the past several days.