Egypt: Mubarak Dies One More Time · Global Voices
Tarek Amr

This post is part of our special coverage Egypt Revolution 2011.
Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak has died at least once every few weeks since the beginning of the Egyptian revolution, which toppled his 32-year reign. Netizens react to the latest speculations regarding his health.
Lubna F. reassured her readers that Mubarak's health status is a recurring news item. She wrote:
@fatanil: Dear foreigners, sensing that many of you are confused. So to clarify, Mubarak is dead/alive-ISH. Happens every few weeks, dont worry.
And Jonathan Moremi once tweeted a schedule for Mubarak's death:
@jonamorem: BREAKING: #Mubarak will die today at 11:57 AM and then again at 4:12 PM. Please show compassion. Next show tomorrow at 7:48 AM and 3:44 PM
However, on June 19, news of Mubarak's death seemed real.
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@HaYatElYaMaNi: Breaking: Mubarak died clinically #mubarak
The Egyptian official news agency Middle East News Agency reported the news [Link doesn't open, and the website was reported dead along with Mubarak], and Ahram Online later on wrote, “Hosni Mubarak has been pronounced clinically dead upon his arrival at a military hospital in the upscale neighbourhood of Maadi, according to Egyptian state news agency MENA”.
So it seemed official this time, as Ekram Ibrahim tweeted:
@Ekramibrahim: I think #Mubarak has officially died. #Egypt
But once again, the Egyptian (and foreign journalists) fell pray to Mubarak's death rumors. An hour later, news came that Mubarak was still alive, or may be came back from death as Ms. Entropy  tweeted:
@MsEntropy: #MubarakConspiracy I'll start. #Mubarak is just imitating Jesus in a bid for support from Copts. He will rise again. #CreepingSectarianism
One of Mubarak's parody accounts also tweeted:
@NotMobarak: Bazzinga! You never learn, do you? #Mubarak never dies.
Josh Shahryar shared the ingredients of the potion used to revive Mubarak:
@JShahryar: Anonymous sources told me potion containing Gaddafi's claws, Prince Nayef's fangs and Assad's horns used to revive #Mubarak.
Imran Garda has a different theory about Mubarak's continuous heart attacks.
@ImranGarda: Egyptians are always skeptical about news that mentions #Mubarak's heart. They were never absolutely certain he had one.
With all those wondering how many times Mubarak will continue to live, or die, Bassem Sabry tweeted:
@Bassem_Sabry: While I cannot verify this at all, a popular story claims Mubarak's father lived to 104 years of age, and supposedly died of a car accident.
Nathan Nemo was worried about how many times Mubarak's Wikipedia page should be updated. Melissa Rose suggested Mubarak Zombie to be as cool band's name and Buddhas Hag tweeted:
@BuddhasHag: I don’t believe in love at first sight, I believe in death at first heart attack. But again Mubarak has to prove me wrong.
Not only Wikipedia, but also newspapers were forced to edit their previous stories about his death. NewsDiffs (@newsdiffs), which watches different versions of highly-placed articles on online news sites, published a comparison showing how New York Times’ story was updated when it turned out he was still alive.
News about the life or death of the former president is not the only information that cannot be confirmed in Egypt nowadays. There is also uncertainty about the next president, with both presidential candidates Ahmed Shafiq and Mohammed Morsi claiming they won last week's run off elections.
@the_blacklisted: Shafik and Morsy won and lost the election. Mubarak is alive and dead. The military is and isn't the leader of Egypt. Yet I'm still unhappy.
And finally, in case you are reading this few days later, and wondering whether Mubarak is now alive or dead now, don't worry, there is an application for that.
This post is part of our special coverage Egypt Revolution 2011.