Mubarak fell down in the prison bathroom- Lawyer

A new sense of political intrigue compounded the confusion over the health of Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday when one of his lawyers contradicted what he called false reports in Egypt’s state-run media that the imprisoned former president had nearly died, insisting that Mr. Mubarak simply fell down in the prison bathroom.The new account from the lawyer, Youssri Abdel Razeq, raised new questions not only about Mr. Mubarak’s condition but about possible motives within the military-led government that has been in charge since Mr. Mubarak was deposed in the Egyptian revolution last year.Until Tuesday, Mr. Mubarak, 84, had been kept in the medical wing of a Cairo prison where he had served 17 days of a life sentence for murder as an accomplice in the police killing of hundreds of demonstrators during the protests that eventually toppled him. His lawyers had complained that his deteriorating health meant he should be spared incarceration.Conflicting reports about Mr. Mubarak’s deteriorating health began to circulate on Tuesday, including one that declared him “clinically dead,” just as the military council was attempting to extend its hold on state power indefinitely in the face of growing street protests demanding it cede authority to a newly elected president and reinstate the dissolved parliament. Egypt’s official Middle East News Agency said he had been removed from the prison to a hospital after a stroke and heart attack had left him in a coma, near death and dependent on artificial life support.Mr. Abdel Razeq denied that on Wednesday. What really happened, the lawyer said, was that Mr. Mubarak had suffered a fall in the prison bathroom, which resulted in a blood clot on his neck, and that he had been removed from the prison at 5 p.m. — long before the reports of his near-death experience began to appear.“We were surpised at what we can call a media mania in Egypt last night,” the lawyer said.He said doctors had quickly given Mr. Mubarak medicine to remove the blood clot in his neck, he underwent an MRI test, and was in stable condition. Mr. Abdel Razeq said Mr. Mubarak’s legal team had filed a request with an administrative court seeking Mr. Mubarak’s full release on medical grounds. And he said that they were open to sending Mr. Mubarak abroad for medical care out of the country as well, just he had traveled to Germany two years ago for intestinal surgery. “If the doctors recommend that, of course,” Mr. Abdel Razeq said.The Middle East News Agency was still standing by its account of Mr. Mubarak’s medical condition. But security officials said earlier Wednesday he was breathing on his own and his condition was nearly stable.