Mubarak has stomach cancer: lawyer

The 83-year-old former president has been hospitalised in the Red Sea resort of Sharm al Sheikh since his interrogations began on April 13.

His trial is to begin on August 3, along with that of his sons Ala and Gamal, on charges of ordering the killing of anti-regime protesters in February in the revolution that eventually ousted him.

At the beginning of his stay, the hospital had issued a statement denying he had cancer.
His lawyer Farid al-Dib said today that Mubarak had stomach cancer and that tumors were growing.

The ousted president had traveled in March of 2010 to Germany for a surgical intervention to remove his gall bladder and a growth on his small intestine.

Once he returned, rumours were rife that he was suffering from prostate cancer.

People appeared to be divided in reactions over the news, with some believing it was a trick to buy time and sympathy while the others actually sympathising with him in a part of the world where old age is deeply respected.