Hosni Mubarak's lawyer said Sunday that the ousted Egyptian president suffered a stroke and is in a coma. However a top medical official with knowledge of his condition denied the report and said Mubarak was stable.
Mubarak, 83, has been in a hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh since April under arrest on charges he ordered the killings of protesters during Egypt's uprising. He is said to be suffering from heart trouble.
"The president had a sudden stroke," said the lawyer Farid el-Deeb. "Doctors are trying to bring him to consciousness. He is in a total coma," he told The Associated Press.
However, a senior medical official in the hospital where Mubarak is held said his condition had not worsened. The doctor spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.
Mubarak is set to face trial in August on charges he ordered the killings of protesters during the 18-day uprising that ousted him on Feb. 11. A conviction could carry the death penalty and activists suspect his lawyer may be using health problems as a ruse to sway public opinion and perhaps even win amnesty.
Protesters have camped for more than a week in Cairo's Tahrir Square, demanding a public trial for Mubarak and other regime officials accused of complicity in killing protesters.
El-Deeb has made other claims recently about Mubarak's deteriorating health that were also denied by senior medical officials.
Mubarak was treated last year for cancer in his gallbladder and pancreas, and el-Deeb said last month that he may be suffering a recurrence that spread to his stomach.
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