Mubarak suffers brain stroke, near death

84-year-old ousted Egyptian President put on respirator

The ousted and convicted Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, has suffered a brain stroke and was moved out from Yura prison to the nearby Maadi Military Hospital to be treated, according to a local media report.

State TV said that the 84-year-old ousted president, who is serving a life prison sentence, was in a "critical" condition and has been placed on a respirator. The state news agency MENA said earlier that Mubarak's heart stopped and a defibrillator was used to restart it.

It was later reported that the prison authority has called in his doctors to treat his stroke in "a fast deterioration of his health" and that they were giving him medications to break up blood clots.    

Moving Mubarak out of prison would likely anger many in the public, where there is a widespread suspicion that security and military officials are sympathetic to the former president and are giving him preferential treatment.

The public has been already stirred up over recent decisions by the ruling military council that have stripped the incoming president from most of his powers, further enshrining the powers of the military. Tens of thousands gathered in Tahrir Square today to protest the new decisions.