Gamal Essam El-Din reports on the ongoing saga of deposed president 's health Conflicting reports about the health of ousted president continue to make headlines two weeks ahead of his scheduled appearance in court on charges of profiteering and ordering security forces to open fire on peaceful protesters. Ministry of Health officials have denied stories that Mubarak had suffered a stroke and is now in a coma. Deputy Health minister Adel El-Adawi said Mubarak, 83, suffered a bout of dizziness due to low blood pressure, was treated accordingly and his condition is now stable. The majority of media reports about Mubarak's health were unfounded, said El-Adawi. "We receive daily updates from Sharm El-Sheikh hospital, where Mubarak has been held since 12 April. His health is stable." A month ago El-Adawi publicly refuted reports that two German surgeons who operated on Mubarak in Germany last year had examined him to assess the possible spread of cancer. The majority of media reports about Mubarak's failing health can be sourced to his lawyer, Farid El-Deeb. El-Deeb told Egyptian television on 17 July that he had been informed of a sudden deterioration in Mubarak's health. "All that I know so far is that the president is in a coma," said El-Deeb, adding that "the president has had a sudden stroke." "Doctors are trying to bring him to consciousness. He is in a total coma." Assem Azzam, a doctor in Sharm El-Sheikh, contradicted El-Deeb's account. He told Egyptian TV that he had checked on Mubarak and the former president was in a stable condition. "What happened is he got a little dizzy because his blood pressure was low. The doctors are dealing with that," said Azzam. "It is only hypotension, not a coma." El-Deeb's announcements about the dire state of Mubarak's health are seen by many as an attempt to garner public sympathy for the ousted president. The trial of Mubarak, his two sons Alaa and Gamal, and business associate Hussein Salem, is due to open on 3 August. Mubarak faces two charges: illegally profiteering from helping his business associate Hussein Salem to monopolise the export of Egyptian natural gas to Israel at below market prices, and ordering former minister of interior Habib El-Adli and senior police officers to open fire on pro-democracy protesters during the 25 January Revolution. A conviction could carry the death penalty. Prosecution authorities provided a full transcript of Mubarak's interrogation on the two charges this week. The former president denies that he instructed the government to sell gas to Israel at below the market price. "We stopped exporting for some time until we pushed them to raise the price from $1 to $3 and to allow us to review the price every three years. They agreed with great difficulty to both conditions," Mubarak is reported to have told investigator Mustafa Suleiman. The main charge against Mubarak is that the below market price of gas in the contract with Israel has cost Egypt $715 million. Israel disputes the figure, claiming it is based on a New York Times ' article which the paper later corrected. Yosef Maiman, a shareholder in Egypt's East Mediterranean Gas (EMG), which handles exports to Israel, has pointed out that revenue from the sale of gas to Israel accounts for more than all Egypt's other export markets. Mubarak denied any responsibility for setting the price of the natural gas in the contracts. He also denied any role in the appointment of his associate, Hussein Salem, as chairman of EMG. "Salem is a businessman like many others. I met him in the US when I was vice president and I enlisted him and others to help develop Sinai. He's just a business acquaintance, like other businessmen I deal with." Mubarak added that EMG had "contributed substantially to Egyptian intelligence". "The deal dates from the time of Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin. I can't recall the exact date. He told me in a meeting that there was a clause in the peace treaty which allowed Israel to purchase petrol from Egypt by entering a public sale alongside other buyers, and indeed petrol was exported to them for some time. When we were in need of gas I asked him whether we could exchange the export of petrol to the export of gas through public sales too. When Dr Atef Ebeid became prime minister I instructed him to enter negotiations with the Israelis regarding the export of gas and eventually the gas line was built." On the second charge, Mubarak insisted that he had never issued direct instructions to interior minister Habib El-Adli or police officers to open fire on protesters. "I agreed with El-Adli not to open fire and that it was enough to use water cannon to disperse protesters and force them out of Tahrir Square." On 28 January -- the Friday of Anger -- a day of violent confrontations with protesters, Mubarak said: "I was informed by the interior minister that Central Security Forces were being attacked by mobs and that they had to defend themselves. That is why I asked the Armed Forces to help security and stop any violent clashes between protesters and security people and bring calm to the street again. I could never issue an order to kill Egyptians, just as I would never dare steal public money for myself or my family." Activists organising the ongoing sit-in in Tahrir Square dismiss the reports about Mubarak's failing health as an attempt to avoid trying the former president. "We will halt the sit-in when we receive assurances that Mubarak will face a public trial," Nasser Abdel-Hamid, a member of the coalition of the youth of 25 January Revolution, told Al-Ahram. Political analyst Gamal Zahran told Al-Ahram Weekly that he expects "speculation about Mubarak's health to intensify as the trial date draws close". "We should expect growing tensions until the trials of Mubarak, his sons and henchmen, finally come to an end."
