Ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak remains in “critical but stable” condition in prison, an interior ministry source told AFP, as officials weigh transferring him to a Cairo hospital.The 84-year-old former strongman was sentenced to life behind bars for suppressing a revolt against his rule in early 2011 during which nearly 850 protesters were killed.His medical condition deteriorated and he suffered an emotional breakdown after being moved to Tora prison on June 2, where he remains in intensive care in the prison hospital.He has suffered from acute depression since his transfer, as well as periodic increases in blood pressure and shortness of breath, the interior ministry source said.Prison authorities last week agreed to move Mubarak’s son Gamal, who is in the same prison awaiting trial on corruption charges, closer to his father.Mubarak asked that his other son Alaa, also in Tora awaiting trial on the same charges as Gamal, be allowed to stay with him.“He wants both his sons by his side,” a security official said.Mubarak’s wife Suzanne and his two daughters-in-law were given special permission to visit him on Sunday following rumours that Mubarak had died in prison, state media reported.His family has formally requested a transfer to a Cairo hospital but such a move could unleash the anger of activists and protesters at a particularly sensitive time in the country.
