CAIRO - Egyptian media are reporting another serious health crisis for former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The news comes only weeks after Mubarak was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the killing of protesters who helped topple him.
Mubarak was transferred from Cairo's Torah prison late Tuesday to a military hospital. There are conflicting reports on his condition, ranging from being unconscious, to being stable but in serious condition, to being on life support. Egypt's state media reported that Mubarak had been declared clinically dead. But security sources later said he was not.
Mubarak's family and doctors have been trying for weeks to have him returned to the military hospital where he had been staying before his sentencing earlier this month. Those close to the 84-year-old former leader say he strenuously objected to being confined to the prison.
The latest reports about Mubarak's health came as tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Tahrir Square, the center of the demonstrations last year that brought Mubarak's 29-year presidency to an end.
The latest round of demonstrations are aimed at the ruling military council that succeeded Mubarak.
In the past week, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces oversaw the court-ordered dissolution of parliament, reintroduced aspects of martial law, and took for itself legislative and some executive powers, even as it promised to hand over power to a newly elected civilian president.
Who that president will be is yet to be announced. Both the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi and Mubarak's last Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq are claiming victory, adding to the tensions.
In the southern Cairo neighborhood where Mubarak has been hospitalized, car horns blared and fireworks lit up the sky on Tuesday night. But the former leader still has supporters, who recall an era of greater safety and stability when Mubarak was in power.
Mubarak was transferred from Cairo's Torah prison late Tuesday to a military hospital. There are conflicting reports on his condition, ranging from being unconscious, to being stable but in serious condition, to being on life support. Egypt's state media reported that Mubarak had been declared clinically dead. But security sources later said he was not.
Mubarak's family and doctors have been trying for weeks to have him returned to the military hospital where he had been staying before his sentencing earlier this month. Those close to the 84-year-old former leader say he strenuously objected to being confined to the prison.
The latest reports about Mubarak's health came as tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Tahrir Square, the center of the demonstrations last year that brought Mubarak's 29-year presidency to an end.
The latest round of demonstrations are aimed at the ruling military council that succeeded Mubarak.
In the past week, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces oversaw the court-ordered dissolution of parliament, reintroduced aspects of martial law, and took for itself legislative and some executive powers, even as it promised to hand over power to a newly elected civilian president.
Who that president will be is yet to be announced. Both the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi and Mubarak's last Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq are claiming victory, adding to the tensions.
In the southern Cairo neighborhood where Mubarak has been hospitalized, car horns blared and fireworks lit up the sky on Tuesday night. But the former leader still has supporters, who recall an era of greater safety and stability when Mubarak was in power.
