Mubarak 'clinically dead' - state media
2012-06-20 00:43
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Hosni Mubarak
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Cairo - Egypt's ex-president Hosni Mubarak was declared clinically dead after he was transferred to hospital from prison on Tuesday, state media reported, but a medical source said he was in a coma.
"Hosni Mubarak is clinically dead," the official MENA news agency reported. "Medical sources told MENA his heart had stopped beating and did not respond to defibrillation."
But a medical source told AFP the former strongman was in fact in a coma and on an artificial respirator.
Mubarak "is in a coma and the doctors are trying to revive him. He has been placed on an artificial respirator", he said.
The state's Nile News television station began broadcasting archival footage of Mubarak during his presidency, which ended with a popular uprising last year.
"I want to affirm that the official news agency of the country, MENA, has announced it," a state news presenter said of Mubarak's reported clinical death.
"It is a confirmed report from MENA," he added.
Stroke
Mubarak was transferred from prison to a military hospital in the Cairo district of Maadi earlier on Tuesday evening after suffering a stroke and undergoing defibrillation in prison.
The 84-year-old former strongman was sentenced to life behind bars on 2 June for suppressing a revolt against his rule in early 2011 during which nearly 850 protesters were killed.
His medical condition deteriorated after the verdict and he suffered an emotional breakdown after being moved to an intensive care wing in Cairo's Tora prison.
Doctors treated him with a defibrillator twice on 11 June, according to a prison hospital source.
He has suffered from acute depression since his transfer, as well as periodic increases in blood pressure and shortness of breath, interior ministry officials said.
Mubarak's wife Suzanne and his two daughters-in-law were given special permission to visit him following rumours that he had died in prison.
Protests
His family had formally requested a transfer to a Cairo hospital, a move that threatened to unleash the anger of activists and protesters.
His lawyer Farid al-Deeb was not available for comment. He told AFP last week that Mubarak complained to him that the authorities wanted him to stay in prison until he died.
Mubarak was transferred to hospital as thousands of protesters gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square after last weekend's presidential election to protest an apparent bid by the military to prolong its rule.
The Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Mursi has claimed victory in the election, but his rival Ahmed Shafiq, Mubarak's last premier, says he won.
Official results are expected on Thursday.
