In this June 2, 2012 file photo, Egypt's ex-President Hosni Mubarak lies on a gurney inside a barred cage in the police academy courthouse in Cairo, during a hearing in which he was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the killing of protesters during the revolution in the spring of 2011. An Egyptian security official says Mubarak has been slipping in and out of consciousness, more than a week after he was transferred to a hospital inside a Cairo prison to serve his life sentence. The official says Mubarak's wife, former first lady Suzanne Mubarak, and her two daughters-in-law were visiting him in prison Sunday, June 10, 2012, after rumors circulated that he had died. (AP Photo, File)
Officials said 84-year-old Mubarak was 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 south of Cairo since he was convicted and sentenced on June 2 of failing to prevent the killing of protesters during the uprising that forced him out of office in February 2011.
His two sons, one-time heir apparent Gamal and wealthy businessman Alaa, were by his side, the officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. The two sons are being held at Torah prison awaiting trial on insider trading charges and they and their father were acquitted on June 2 of corruption charges.
Mubarak's wife, Suzanne, visited him in Torah on Sunday and, according to the officials, demanded that he be transferred to a better equipped hospital outside the penal system. The officials said such a transfer was likely unless Mubarak's health improves.
In his last public appearance at his sentencing on June 2, the bedridden Mubarak sat stoned-faced in the metal defendants' cage in the courtroom, his eyes hidden behind dark glasses. However, officials said that he broke into tears when he learned that he was being transferred to a prison. It took officials hours to convince Mubarak to leave the helicopter that ferried him from the courthouse to the prison.
Media reports quoted Mubarak at the time as saying the military council who took over after his ouster had deceived him. "Egypt has sold me out. They want me to die here," he reportedly said.
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