Egypt’s state news agency said former President Hosni Mubarak is "clinically dead" after multiple strokes, but a lawyer for Mubarak told NBC News early Wednesday that the ousted leader was clinging to life.
Mubarak, 84, had reportedly suffered multiple strokes and heart failure and had been moved late Tuesday to a military hospital from the prison hospital where he was being treated. He was reported to be on life support.
His health has been deteriorating since 3 p.m. (9 a.m. ET), his lawyers told NBC. He suffered two or three strokes and his heart had to be restarted with a defibrillator, they said.
Video on Hayat TV showed an ambulance taking Mubarak to Maadi military hospital, the same one where his predecessor Anwar Sadat was declared dead more than 30 years ago after being gunned down by Islamic militants.
"He is in really bad shape," a U.S. official told NBC News.
The confusion over the state of health of the former leader came as his longtime opponents in the Muslim Brotherhood claimed victory of their candidate, Mohammed Morsi, over Ahmed Shafiq, a candidate drawn from the military elite in a presidential election held over the weekend.
An 18-day uprising ended Mubarak’s 30-year rule on Feb. 11, 2011, sparking months of social unrest and political turmoil.
Speculation about Mubarak's health had swirled since he was jailed effectively for life on June 2 for failing to halt the killings of hundreds of the protesters who toppled him.
The President of Egypt for nearly 30 years, Mubarak was an advocate for peace in the Middle East and a major U.S. ally, but Egyptians eventually grew tired of his corrupt regime and he was ousted in a popular revolt in February 2011.
He had been moved to Tora prison hospital from a plush military hospital where he was held during the 10-month trial.
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