FLDS leader off feeding tube

Arizona jail officials say polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs is eating normally and no longer needs to be force-fed through a tube.

Mohave County sheriff's spokeswoman Trish Carter says a feeding tube that had provided Jeffs with liquid nutrition for about a week was removed over the weekend. She says Jeffs has resumed eating regular meals and is taking vitamins.

Jail officials began force-feeding Jeffs on July 31 after a period of self-imposed fasting left his health at risk and a doctor said she feared he could die. Jeffs' fasts are part of the way he practices his religion.

Head of the Fundamentalist LDS Church, Jeffs is in the Kingman jail awaiting trials on criminal charges related to alleged underage marriages of girls. The Utah-based sect owns a large west Texas ranch near Eldorado.

— Associated Press