Chaos deepens in Egypt: Mubarak on life support

CAIRO -- Hosni Mubarak was on life support yesterday after the ousted leader, 84, had a stroke in prison, officials said, deepening Egypt's uncertainty just as a potentially explosive fight opened over who succeeds him, with both candidates claiming to have won last weekend's presidential election.

Mubarak was moved out of prison to a military hospital in developments that add further layers to what is threatening to become a new chapter of unrest and political power struggles in Egypt, 16 months after he was ousted by a popular uprising demanding democracy.

The Muslim Brotherhood sent tens of thousands of its supporters into the street in an escalation of its confrontation with the ruling generals over their grab this week of sweeping powers that give them dominance over the next president.

Some 50,000 protesters, mostly Islamists, protested in Tahrir Square last evening, chanting slogans in support of the Brotherhood's candidate, Mohammed Morsi. "We, the people, gave them [the military] legitimacy and we now are taking back," said Saber Ibrahim, 36, a schoolteacher who came from his native Beni Suef' south of Cairo, to join in the rally.

The campaign of Mubarak's former prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, said yesterday he won the election, and hundreds of his supporters took to the streets in Cairo in celebration.

The election commission is to announce the official final results Thursday and no matter whom it names as victor, his rival is likely to reject the result as a fraud.