Mubarak's health 'severely deteriorating'

Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak's health is "severely deteriorating’" prison sources have told the Al Arabiya news network, three days after he was sentenced to life for complicity in the murder of hundreds of protesters last year. Sources inside Cairo’s Tora prison told Al Arabiya that Mubarak collapsed following visits on Monday by his wife Suzanne, and his sons Alaa and Gamal. His wife reportedly sobbed after she saw him in a prison suit. State news ageny MENA reported that 84-year-old Mubarak was given artificial respiration five times in recent hours and doctors have recommended that he be transferred. The deposed leader was reportedly suffering from nervous shock, severe depression and an increase in his blood pressure. The sons are detained pending trial in a case involving alleged share-price manipulation. Alaa was reportedly moved to a cell near his father, whose personal doctors were not allowed to oversee his health condition. Egypt’s state news agency said “the severe deterioration in the former president’s condition” prompted prison staff to bring in an interior ministry medical team. He was given sedatives and placed under observation, it added. It said the family visit, the first since his sentencing, caused him to suffer from depression, prompting him to stop eating. It was not possible to independently check the report. Mubarak’s health has been the subject of widespread speculation for years. During his trial, he was wheeled into court on a hospital stretcher for each hearing, though his ailment was undefined.