Egypt's Hosni Mubarak was Wednesday in a coma on life support at a Cairo hospital, sources said, as tension spiked over who will succeed him as president and moves by the ruling military to extend its powers. The uncertainty over the health of the ousted leader comes amid new political upheaval, with both candidates in a presidential vote claiming victory and the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) granting itself sweeping powers.
Mubarak "is not clinically dead," a medical source told AFP. "He is in a coma and the doctors are trying to revive him." "He has been placed on an artificial respirator," the source added, in an account confirmed by a member of Egypt's ruling military council, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity. Egypt's state television carried a ticker item saying Mubarak was in "a coma and is not clinically dead." State news agency MENA had earlier said the ousted strongman, 84, had been declared clinically dead after suffering a stroke in prison and being transferred to hospital.
"Hosni Mubarak is clinically dead," the report said. "Medical sources told MENA his heart had stopped beating and did not respond to defibrillation." News of Mubarak's failing health came as Egypt wrapped up a presidential election runoff and faced "the most critical 48 hours in its history," said the state-owned daily Al-Ahram. The Muslim Brotherhood said in the early hours of Monday morning that their candidate, Mohamed Morsi, had won the runoff, and on Tuesday provided what they said were certified copies of ballot tallies to bolster their claims.
But Morsi's rival Ahmed Shafiq, Mubarak's last prime minister, has also claimed a victory, with his campaign accusing the Brotherhood of issuing false figures and insisting official results due out on Thursday will declare him president. The electoral committee begins Wednesday looking into the appeals filed by both sides, state television said.