Cairo, July 28: Egypt’s former ruler Hosni Mubarak has reportedly become very weak after refusing to eat any solid food over the past five days.
Mubarak “is completely refusing to eat food but consumes some liquids and juice only. He lost a lot of weight and suffers weakness and severe infirmity,” said Mohamed Fathallah, head of the hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh where Mubarak has been under arrest since April.
The announcement comes a week before the toppled president is due to stand trial. Critics believe he is pretending to be ill to avoid justice, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
Medical sources said the amount of food intake is not enough to keep Mubarak alive, adding that a decision will soon be taken about whether to put him on a drip or go on with normal feeding.
Health Minister Amr Mohamed Helmi has confirmed that Mubarak is in poor health conditions.
Mubarak is accused of corruption and ordering the killing of hundreds of protesters during the revolution that led to his downfall.
The former strongman, along with his two sons and former interior minister Habib al-Adli, are scheduled to stand trial on August 3
Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm has said that the news of Mubarak’s condition could mean that others would have to be taken to Sharm el-Sheikh for the upcoming trial.
Protesters have frequently accused the ruling military council of being too slow to bring Mubarak to justice.
——Agencies