Hosni Mubarak's health is deteriorating

Hosni Mubarak's condition has deteriorated so much that doctors had to constantly administer oxygen to him overnight, officials said yesterday.

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CAIRO // Hosni Mubarak's condition has deteriorated so much that doctors had to constantly administer oxygen to him overnight, officials said yesterday.

Officials at Cairo's Torah jail, where 84-year-old Mubarak is serving a life sentence, said he is suffering breathing problems, high blood pressure and depression.

He did not speak to his doctors or anyone else except for a few words to his son and one-time heir apparent Gamal.

Gamal is being held in the same prison and was at his father's side, said the officials.

They said Mubarak was given oxygen throughout the night until yesterday morning.

Security officials say Mubarak's health has deteriorated sharply since Saturday, when he and his ex-security chief were sentenced to life in prison for failing to prevent the killing of protesters during the uprising that toppled him last year.

Mubarak had been held in military hospitals since his arrest in April last year until his sentencing. He did not want to go to the Torah prison hospital after the sentencing Saturday, pleading with his escort to take him back to the military hospital east of Cairo where he had been before.

Mubarak and his two sons were acquitted of corruption charges in Saturday's mixed verdict. But they are being held in prison on new charges of insider trading, brought just days before their acquittals were announced in the separate case with their father.

The acquittals brought harsh criticism from the Islamist-dominated parliament and set off a new wave of protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square and other cities.

The turmoil erupted two weeks before Egypt's presidential run-off on June 16-17 pitting Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood against Mubarak's last prime minister Ahmed Shafiq in a presidential run-off.

Yesterday, one of the country's top judicial officials, chairman of the union of judges Ahmed El Zind, responded to criticism from parliament with a scathing attack.

In a televised news conference, Mr El Zind said it was unacceptable to question the integrity of judges and accused lawmakers of abusing their immunity.

"You did not inherit Egypt from your mothers and fathers," said Mr El Zind, whose attack appeared to be directed against the Brotherhood, a fundamentalist group that won just under half of the legislature's seats.

"We will never allow this legislature to be a thorn in Egypt's side," he said.

The group is at odds with the ruling military council that took over from Mubarak, in part over the selection of a 100-member panel to draft a new constitution.