Hosni Mubarak Dead?

Rumors are quickly spreading over Twitter that ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak has died in jail. The rumors gained traction and possible validity when a Twitter account claiming to be Mohamed Ibrahim, the interior minister of Egypt, tweeted back-to-back tweets first saying, “Interior Ministry of Egypt officially announces the death of former president Hosni Mubarak,” policymic.com reported.

That tweet was followed by “Interior Ministry of Arab Republic of Egypt confirms that former president Mubarak dies today. More details later.”

The Twitter account was started only one hour prior to the release of these tweets, sparking the high-possibility that the account is bogus.

Earlier this month Mubarak was sentenced to life in prison for ordering police to kill protestors during the uprising against his 30-year reign.

The 84-year-old Mubarak has been in poor health, reportedly pleading with his lawyers to save him from prison out of fear that he would die in jail. Mubarak is being held in the intensive care wing of Cairo’s Tora prison and his family and lawyers recently specially requested Mubarak be transferred to a Cairo hospital; such a move could spark massive political backlash on the eve of Egypt’s elections.

Whether dead or alive, on Monday, CNN reported that Mubarak was in a full-coma. Mubarak’s health has been on the decline since last summer with conflicting reports about the cause. He attended last August’s trials on a hospital gourney.

Update: Medical officials said on Tuesday that Mubarak’s condition has stabilized after the former president slipped in an out of consciousness over the past 24 hours, according to the Associated Press.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media, said the 84-year old Mubarak was administered oxygen to aid his breathing once on Tuesday. They say they are monitoring his heart and blood pressure closely.

There have been conflicting reports about Mubarak’s condition since a court convicted him on June 2 of failing to prevent the killings of protesters in the uprising that ousted him last year and sentenced him to life in prison. Doctors said a defibrillator was used on Mubarak twice on Monday.