Egypt Waits After Conflicting Reports of Hosni Mubarak's 'Clinical Death'

Reports of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak being "clinically dead," have been debunked, but he's currently being kept alive on life support and some are saying his condition is going downhill. Crowds have gathered in Tahrir Square waiting for updates about his condition.

Update 1:15 a.m.: CNN spoke with Mubarak's lawyer who told them he's currently in a coma. "He has been in a coma for hours now," the lawyer said. "He has had water on the lungs for 10 days now and his blood pressure is down today, which obstructed his breathing and forced doctors to put him on a respirator. He was given medicine intravenously to relieve the brain clot, and electric shocks were used to revive him but there was no substantial response. He is not dead as reported."

Update 9:50 p.m.:  Reports of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak being "clinically dead," have been debunked, but he's currently being kept alive on life support and some are saying his condition is going downhill. Crowds have gathered in Tahrir Square waiting for updates about his condition. The AP is reporting Mubarak is "being kept alive," on life support, while the BBC is saying he's "critically ill and may be close to death." A military source tells Reuters, "He is completely unconscious. He is using artificial respiration."

General Mamdouh Shaheen, of Egypt's Supreme Council of The Armed Forces, tells CNN that Mubarak "is not clinically dead as reported, but his health is deteriorating and he is in critical condition." He also says Mubarak, after getting revived and put on a respirator, also had a brain clot. We'll continue updating as the night goes on.

Original: Egyptian state news is reporting that Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is "clinically dead," after suffering a stroke and cardiac arrest, according to CNN, but Reuters cites two security officers who say he's "on a respirator." In anticipation of definitive word on Mubarak's condition, crowds have gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square.

A member of Egypt's Supreme Council of The Armed Forces has now told CNN that Mubarak is in critical condition and not "clinically dead," while the BBC has a source saying that he's "close to death" which sounds close to the AP's report from a source that Mubarak was put on life support after "doctors used a defibrillator on him several times."  "The developments add further layers to what is threatening to become a new chapter of unrest and political power struggles in Egypt," reports the AP.  "Egyptians were uncertain about Mubarak's fate, about who will succeed him and about whether his successor will have any power."

Reports continue to come in.

Reporters and commentators are taking to Twitter to parse the meaning of "clinically dead," especially since rumors of Mubarak's death (and their political implications for the country) have been floating around for the past couple of weeks.  Just over a week ago, an Egyptian interior ministry official told CNN that the former president was in a coma and at the same time, the BBC disputed the coma report but insisted that Mubarak was suffering from blood pressure issues, breathing problems, and deteriorating  health--a point his lawyers were arguing in hopes to get Mubarak a transfer to a hospital (and possibly evading his life sentence).

Whatever his status at the moment, Bloomberg reported earlier today that the 84-year-old Mubarak had to be revived and have his heart rate stabilized by a defibrillator. Egyptian news reports which were picked up by CNN explain that Mubarak rushed to the hospital, where doctors and officials declared him "clinically dead."  Reuters has a source at the hospital who initially confirmed the report, before the latest update walking it back.

Here is MSNBC's live-streaming from Cairo: