Egypt's hospitalized former President Hosni Mubarak, who is due to stand trial next week over the killing of protesters, is weakened because he has been refusing to eat and is only taking liquids, the official news agency MENA reported on Tuesday.
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," MENA quoted the head of the hospital where Mubarak is being treated as saying.
There have been numerous conflicting reports on the former president's health over the past months, including suggestions that he is too sick to be moved to prison from his present location in a Sharm el-Sheikh hospital.
Some observers believe that exagerated reports of Mubarak's ill health are aimed at provoking sympathy among the public ahead of his trial, perhaps even preparing the ground for claims that he is too unwell to face trial at all.
