In an interview with Al-Arabiya television, Hosni Mubarak's lawyer said the former Egyptian leader was in poor health with cancer.
"He is not dying, but he might reach this stage soon," Bloomberg reports that Fareed Al-Deeb told the network.
Mubarak is set to stand trial Aug. 3. He has been charged for abuse of power and for allowing the killing of protesters during the uprising that ended his close to 30-year rule of Egypt. Mubarak has been hospitalized since April after he suffered a heart attack.
The Los Angeles Times reports that the Agence France-Presse reports Mubarak has stomach cancer. The Times adds:
Activists and opposition leaders have been suspicious of reports on Mubarak's health, fearing that his condition is being made to look more dire than it is in an effort by his supporters to keep him from trial. Mubarak and his sons, Alaa and Gamal, are expected to be tried in early August for allegedly defrauding the country and allowing government forces to kill more than 840 Egyptians during 18 days of demonstrations.
"Mubarak and his sons are the symbol of all the corruption carried out under his rule," said Ismael Zakareya, a teacher. "The importance of his trial is not just to punish him, but it will be to set a great example to any ruler or official who will come to power after him. This revolution will lose a large part of its essence if he and his sons are not sentenced."
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