Mubarak cancer 'may have returned'

Ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak may have cancer, his lawyer said today, two months ahead of the former leader’s trial for allegedly ordering the killing of anti-government protesters.

Mubarak, who was pushed out of power on February 11 after 18 days of mass demonstrations, has been in hospital with heart troubles since April in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. He is scheduled to go on trial on August 3 for the deaths of protesters during the uprising against his 29-year rule. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

The ex-president’s lawyer, Farid el-Deeb, said Mubarak underwent “critical surgery” in Heidelberg, Germany, last year to remove his gall bladder and part of his pancreas, which were cancerous.

“There is evidence suggesting that there is a recurrence of cancer and that it has reached the stomach,” Mr el-Deeb said. He called Mubarak’s condition “horrible”, and said the former leader “doesn’t eat and he loses consciousness quite often”.

He added that the possible recurrence of cancer is a result of Mubarak failing to carry out a medical check-up in Germany every four months. “This led to complications,” he said.

Mubarak’s health is a highly politicised issue in Egypt, and his prosecution has been complicated by concerns over his condition.

Prosecutors have questioned Mubarak in the hospital, but an order to transfer him to a Cairo prison during the investigation was overturned on the grounds that prison health facilities were inadequate to treat Mubarak’s ailments.

Even the location of the former president’s trial remains unclear after a report by a government-appointed panel of physicians determined in May that he was too ill to be held in prison while awaiting trial.

That report stated Mubarak was suffering from heart troubles and confirmed he had “tumours” in his pancreas removed, but it did not specify whether the tumours were malignant. It also said that Mubarak cannot leave his bed without assistance.

Mr el-Deeb said he presented a second comprehensive medical report to Egypt’s prosecutor general on Thursday showing that Mubarak is suffering from a recurrence of cancer.