Mubarak revived after heart stopped

CAIRO

Ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, who has been in critical condition since moving to prison, was defibrillated twice after his heart stopped yesterday, a prison hospital source said.

Mubarak’s “heart stopped twice. Doctors had to use a defibrillator. He has been in and out of consciousness and has been refusing food,” the source told Agence France-Presse.

Earlier, an interior ministry source said his condition was “critical but stable,” as officials weigh transferring him to a Cairo hospital. The 84-year-old former strongman was sentenced to life behind bars for suppressing a revolt against his rule in early 2011 during which nearly 850 protesters were killed.

Alaa moved closer to him

His medical condition deteriorated and he suffered an emotional breakdown after being moved to Tora prison on the outskirts of Cairo on June 2, where he remains in intensive care in the prison hospital.

Egypt’s prison authority has approved a request to let Mubarak’s eldest son stay close to him, according to Reuters.

Mubarak had requested his son Alaa be moved close to him after the authorities earlier agreed to a similar request by the 84-year-old to have his youngest son Gamal brought next to him. Citing a security source in the Interior Ministry, the state news agency reported the latest decision was in response to deterioration in his health.