Hosni Mubarak close to death as doctors restart heart twice

Doctors used a defibrillator twice on Hosni Mubarak yesterday when they could not find a pulse, the latest health crisis for the ousted Egyptian President since he was sentenced to life and moved to a prison hospital this month, officials said.

The 84-year-old was said to be slipping in and out of consciousness and was being fed liquids intravenously. Mubarak also lost consciousness several times on Sunday and officials have said he is suffering from high blood pressure, depression and breathing difficulties.

Mubarak has been held in the intensive care ward of Torah prison hospital in Cairo since he was sentenced on 2 June for failing to prevent the killing of protesters during the uprising that forced him out of office in February 2011. His two sons, Gamal and Alaa, were by his side, officials said. They are being held at Torah prison awaiting trial on insider trading charges. Mubarak and his sons were acquitted of corruption charges on 2 June.

Mubarak's wife, Suzanne, visited him in Torah on Sunday and, according to the officials, demanded he be transferred to a better-equipped hospital outside the penal system. The officials said that such a transfer was likely unless Mubarak's health improved.

In his last public appearance at his sentencing, the bedridden Mubarak sat stoned-faced in the defendants' cage in court, his eyes hidden behind dark glasses. However, officials said he cried when he learned he was being transferred to a prison.

AP