Hosni Mubarak's lawyer says that, reports to the contrary, Egypt's ex-despot did not suffer a stroke and heart attack that left him on the brink of death. He just fell down in the prison bathroom. "We were surprised at what we can call a media mania in Egypt last night," the lawyer tells the New York Times.
The fall resulted in a blood clot in Mubarak's neck, but doctors quickly gave him medicine to relieve it, and he is now in stable condition, says the lawyer. He adds that Mubarak was moved to the hospital at 5pm, well before the "clinically dead" reports started circulating. But despite downplaying the seriousness of Mubarak's condition, the lawyer said he had filed a request for his full release on medical grounds, and said Mubarak would consider leaving the country for medical care. (More Hosni Mubarak stories.)