Polygamist leader refuses solid foods

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Polygamous church leader Warren Jeffs, 53, continues to refuse solid foods and remains on a feeding tube.

Mohave County sheriff's spokeswoman Trish Carter said Jeffs ate a sandwich and an orange around 6 a.m. Wednesday but refused further nourishment.

Jail officials began force-feeding Jeffs on Friday after a period of fasting deteriorated his health so much that a doctor feared the church leader might die. The tube was removed Sunday when it appeared Jeffs would eat.

However, it was reinserted Monday after he continued to skip meals.

Head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Jeffs is in the Kingman, Ariz. jail awaiting trials on criminal charges related to alleged underage marriages of sect girls.