The left atrium of Mubarak’s heart operates better than normal, a cardiologist accompanying a parliamentary panel seeking to transfer ousted president Hosni Mubarak to Tora prison said Monday.
Dr. Gamal Shaaban, vice president of the National Heart Institute, told Good Morning Egypt, a program aired on state TV, that Mubarak’s atrium operates at 73 percent proficiency, higher than the average 60 percent. He attributed his healthy heart condition to the fact that the former president played sports, especially squash.
Shaaban said that the hospital in Tora prison has been ready to host Mubarak since April 2011, saying there has been an unjustifiable delay in his transfer. He said Mubarak’s health is stable and does not require intensive care.
Mubarak is on trial over charges that he ordered the murder of pro-democracy protesters during the 18-day uprising that ended his rule in February 2011. He has been spending his detention at the military-run International Medical Center.
Recently demands have increased that the toppled president be transferred from his luxurious detention to Tora prison, south of Cairo, where other former regime officials are detained over corruption charges.
Public pressure prompted the People's Assembly to form a panel to determine whether the prison's hospital is qualified to host Mubarak.
In a report discussed by the assembly on Monday, the panel said that the prison's hospital can be ready within one week, and said delays in preparing the hospital is unjustified.
Shaaban said Tora prison contains two hospitals, one of which is highly-equipped and qualified to conduct major medical operations. He refuted earlier claims by the Interior Ministry’s Prisons’ Authority that the hospital lacked the requirements to host the former president, arguing that ministry-run hospitals are among the best in Egypt.
