Egyptian security officials say the health of ousted president Hosni Mubarak has deteriorated further, with doctors having to use a defibrillator twice and feed him liquids intravenously.

The officials said Mubarak's two sons, one-time heir apparent Gamal and wealthy businessman Alaa, were by his side at the intensive care ward of Torah prison hospital south of Cairo, where the 84-year-old former president is serving a life sentence.

The officials at Torah, who chose to remain anonymous, did not say whether the defibrillator was used because Mubarak's heart stopped or to remedy irregular heartbeats.

Mubarak had requested Alaa be moved close to him after the authorities earlier agreed to a similar request about Gamal.

Citing a security source in the Interior Ministry, the report said the latest decision was in response to "a deterioration in his health".

Mubarak was jailed for life on June 2 for failing to prevent the killing of protesters who rose up against him, but the acquittal of senior police officers for lack of evidence angered many Egyptians who believe the ex-president may win an appeal. Security sources said last week that Mubarak was given artificial respiration five times in one day and doctors recommended he be moved to a military hospital or back to the medical facility he was in prior to his conviction.

He has also reportedly slipped in and out of a coma at times, although prison sources said yesterday he was awake and with his sons, who are in prison pending trial over alleged stock market manipulation.