Egypt - Mubarak Ordered Back To Prison From Hospital

Egypt's public prosecutor ordered former president Hosni Mubarak be moved back to prison on Monday, saying an improvement in his health meant he no longer needed to stay in a military hospital.

Mubarak, sentenced to life in prison over the killing of protesters in the uprising that ended his rule, was moved from the medical wing of Tora prison to a military hospital last month following reports of a deterioration in his health.

At the time, senior officers and military sources gave various accounts of the 84-year-old's condition, including that he was in a coma and on life support.

The state news agency then reported he was "clinically dead", a report that came under wide criticism. MENA was accused by critics of participating in a cover up to move the former president of three decades out of prison.

He was moved to hospital just days after Egyptians voted in the second round of a presidential vote that eventually installed the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Mursi.

Adel al-Saeed, the assistant prosecutor and spokesman for the prosecutor's office, said on Monday a medical committee formed to review Mubarak's condition had decided his health was stable enough that he did not need advanced hospital care.

"The medical committee's members have unanimously reached that his medical condition is currently stable under the use of medication," the statement from the prosecution said.

Sentenced on June 2 for his failure to protect demonstrators, Mubarak has been portrayed as being in poor health by officials for the past year. He was wheeled in to court during his trial on a hospital stretcher.

Mubarak's legal team had been pressing to have him moved from the prison hospital to a better-equipped facility, saying he was not receiving adequate treatment for his condition.

There has been no clear statement from independent medical experts on any ailments, although state media have reported a variety of illnesses from shortage of breath to heart attacks and comas.

Many Egyptians have been sceptical, suspecting his fellow military officers who had been running the country since he was toppled before Mursi was elected as president of trying to give him a more comfortable confinement.

His two sons are being held in the same prison, facing trial on graft charges.