Conflicting reports emerge over whether Hosni Mubarak has died

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[Updated at 6:15 p.m. ET] Several senior Egyptian officials are now refuting a state news agency's report that former president Hosni Mubarak is "clinically dead." Citing medical sources, the state-run MENA news agency reported that that Mubarak had been declared clinically dead after being admitted to a military hospital on Tuesday evening. "Mubarak's heart stopped beating and was subjected to a defibrillator several times but did not respond," the MENA release stated.

However, senior officials, including military leaders, have now contradicted that earlier report. Gen. Mamdouh Shahin, a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, reportedly told CNN that Mubarak "is not clinically dead as reported, but his health is deteriorating and he is in critical condition."

Mubarak, 84, ruled Egypt for nearly 30 years, steering the nation through the turmoil that swept a Middle East buffeted by wars, terrorism and religious extremism. But the war hero and savior of his country died as a criminal convicted for his role in the deaths of those fighting to oust him.

He suffered a stroke on Tuesday, and a defibrillator was used in prison before he was taken to the military hospital, Agence France-Presse reported.

Mubarak's health had been failing since he was sentenced to life in prison on June 2, after he was convicted of failing to prevent the killing of protesters in a February 2011 uprising against his rule.

Doctors at the prison hospital used a defibrillator twice on June 11 after they could not find a pulse on the deposed leader. An AP story at the time said Mubarak "was slipping in and out of consciousness, was suffering from high blood pressure and breathing difficulties, and was in a deep depression, according to security officials at the prison."

More details on his death or funeral arrangements are not yet available.