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The ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak is said to be in a coma after his heart stopped on Tuesday, deepening uncertainty in the country amid ongoing disputes over who has been elected as his successor.
Mubarak, who lost power 16 months ago to a popular uprising demanding democracy, was transferred from a prison hospital to a military hospital. He is now understood to be off life support with his heart and other vital organs functioning.
The state news agency Mena had initially reported that Mubarak was clinically dead soon after he was taken to the military hospital. Later accounts disputed this, saying he had improved slightly but that he remained in a critical condition.
It was reported that the 84-year-old had suffered a blood clot in the brain which caused his heart to stop, but that he was resuscitated by paramedics at the prison hospital and then moved to the military hospital.
Mubarak's health crisis adds further layers to what is threatening to become a new chapter of unrest and political power struggles in Egypt.
The campaign of Mubarak's former prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, said that Shafiq has won Egypt's presidential election, countering the Muslim Brotherhood's claim of victory for its candidate, Mohammed Morsi.
The election commission is to announce the official final results on Thursday and no matter who it names as victor, his rival is likely to reject the result as a fraud.
The Brotherhood, Egypt's most powerful political group, is already escalating its challenge against the ruling military over the generals' move this week to give themselves overwhelming authority over the next president. Some 50,000 protesters, mostly Islamists, massed in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Tuesday evening chanting slogans in support of Morsi and denouncing the generals' power grab.
The health crisis of Mubarak, who is serving a life prison sentence, is yet one more thing to raise tensions.
Moving Mubarak out of prison is likely to further infuriate many people.
Egyptians have been sceptical of earlier reports that his health was worsening since he was put in prison on 2 June, believing the reports were just a pretext to move him to another facility. There is a widespread suspicion that security and military officials sympathetic to their old boss are giving him preferential treatment.
Even before this latest incident many in Egypt had contended that there would be some sort of ploy to get Mubarak out of the prison hospital to more comfortable surroundings. As reports of his health improved, some felt that this had been the case. Mostafa Hussein said on Twitter, "Mena published a lie to get the old man out of prison. Well played Scaf."
Mubarak's health had deteriorated severely after he was sentenced earlier this month and he was transferred from an international medical centre to the prison hospital. He has needed a defibrillator several times.
The autocratic ruler presided over a three-decade reign before being ousted after a wave of protests that began January 25 2011. More than 850 people died in 18 days. It was six months before he was put on trial and on 2 June he received a prison sentence for failing to prevent the deaths of protesters.
Brian Whitaker's best blogs and analysis from the Middle East
From The Arabist
