Mubarak at risk of suffering a stroke 'any time'

Egypt's jailed President Hosni Mubarak's health deteriorated further as he was slipping in and out of coma in a prison hospital and was at risk of suffering a stroke any time, an official said on Sunday.

Eighty-four-year-old Mubarak, who has been undergoing treatment at the Tora prison hospital here, is experiencing breathlessness due to his heart problems, more than a week after he was sentenced to life in prison.

The official said Mubarak's wife, Suzanne, and their two daughters-in-law visited him in prison this morning after rumors circulated that the former Egyptian strongman had died.

They were granted special permission to visit him to quash rumours of his death, the official said. The prison official said Mubarak is living only on liquids and yogurt.

Meanwhile, local media reports said that Mubarak's heartbeat is irregular and he has to be put on a ventilator for extended periods and he was slipping in and out of coma. He is in danger of suffering a stroke any time, reports said.

Earlier also, prison officials had said that Mubarak was suffering from breathing difficulties, nervous breakdown and depression after being sentenced to life  imprisonment on June 2 for complicity in the killing of protesters demonstrating against his 30-year rule last year.

The prison officials had said that Mubarak had collapsed several times.

The hospital administration had reportedly brought in recently a team of cardiologists who had examined Mubarak and found that he was suffering from a nervous breakdown, depression, high blood pressure and breathing problem.