Mubarak In Critical Condition, Near Coma

Ex-dictator Hosni Mubarak is slipping in and out of consciousness eight days after he was sent to prison to begin serving a life sentence, an Egyptian security official said Sunday.

With rumors of the ousted president's death spreading rapidly, authorities granted his wife, former first lady Suzanne Mubarak, and the couple's two daughters-in-law special permission to visit him in Cairo's Torah prison early that morning, the Associated Press reported.

The former president's health is in decline, but now it's stable in its deteriorated state, the official said.

s visit, Mubarak has suffered from an irregular heartbeat and required assistance in breathing.
The official told the AP Mubarak has an irregular heartbeat and requires assistance in breathing. He now lives only on liquids and yogurt.

Mubarak's health is reported to have collapsed since his June 2 conviction for failing to stop the killing of protesters during the uprising that overthrew him in 2011. His life sentence saw him transferred immediately to a prison hospital, instead of the military hospital and other facilities where he had been held since his April 2011 arrest.

Authorities have turned down several requests by Mubarak's family to transfer the ousted president back to a military facility, the official said.

Mubarak's two sons Alaa and Gamal are also being held. They were acquitted on June 2 of corruption charges, but still face separate charges of insider trading.