Hosni Mubarak's health entered a “dangerous” phase Wednesday, and doctors had to use a respirator five times to help the deposed Egyptian leader breathe, according to security officials at his prison. Mubarak's health crisis came days after he was sentenced to life in prison for failing to stop the killing of protesters in the uprising that unseated him last year. The officials at Torah prison south of Cairo said Mubarak, 84, was suffering from shock and high blood pressure as well as breathing problems. Mubarak was given artificial respiration five times in recent hours and doctors recommended he be moved to a military hospital or back to the medical facility he was in earlier, security officials said. “Official sources saw as likely the possibility of his transfer to a military hospital ... based on a medical recommendation from the doctors treating him,” the state agency MENA reported. A medical committee from the Interior Ministry visited Mubarak and concluded that he had suffered several “heart crises” and that his medical condition was deteriorating, the security sources said. Mubarak was suffering from nervous shock and an increase in his blood pressure, reported MENA, summarizing the findings of a medical team which examined him. Mubarak was sentenced to life on Saturday, but he and his two sons, Gamal and Alaa, were acquitted of corruption charges. The sons are also being held in Torah, awaiting a separate trial on charges of insider trading. Officials said prison authorities were allowing Gamal to be by his father's side. Alaa also applied for permission, but it has not yet been granted, they said.
