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162386
Sun, 02/20/2011 - 08:19
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http://m.oananews.org//node/162386
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Will hated dictator syndrome become contagious?
TEHRAN, Feb.20(MNA) -- It seems that a number of dictators in North Africa and the Middle East have entered retirement in a way they never imagined.
Is it a coincidence that deposed despots Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak each purportedly went into a coma shortly after stepping down?
Ariel Sharon also went into a coma for his retirement. However, for the Israeli dictator the sequence of events was a bit different since he became incapacitated while still in office.
According to media reports, Ben Ali -- whose ousting as Tunisian president triggered the popular uprisings across the Middle East -- is in a coma in a Saudi hospital, a family friend has said.
The 74-year-old slipped into a coma on Wednesday while being treated in a Jeddah hospital, the friend said, adding, “He had a stroke, and his condition is serious.”
Ben Ali, his wife Leila Trabelsi, and their inner circle are suspected of having pocketed much of the country’s wealth over the years and taking personal stakes in much of the economy.
Earlier, a spokesman for the interim government that replaced Ben Ali’s regime would neither confirm nor deny reports he was in hospital.
And in a strange type of historical symmetry, according to unconfirmed media reports, former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak is “ailing and bedridden” and may even have slipped into a coma.
Two days after the reports claiming that Mubarak may have slipped into a coma came out, a Saudi official said on Friday that the former Egyptian president has given up and wants to die in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
“He is not dead but is not doing well at all and refuses to leave. Basically, he has given up and wants to die in Sharm,” the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity said.
He added that Saudi Arabia had offered to host Mubarak but said that the former ruler was determined to see out his days in Egypt. Official confirmation could not immediately be obtained from the Saudi government.
The Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Youm reported this week that soon after resigning as president and moving to a resort in Sharm el-Sheikh, the 82-year-old Mubarak became gravely ill and slipped into a coma.
But a pro-government newspaper denied the report, saying Mubarak was suffering psychologically and was declining treatment.
However, Arab diplomats, including one Egyptian, said on Tuesday that to their knowledge, Mubarak had not died.
Former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, who was known as the butcher of Sabra and Shatila, has been in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke on January 4, 2006.
Kept alive through a feeding tube, the former prime minister of Israel continues to open his eyes, and for a few hours a day he is propped up to “watch” television, but no one knows whether he can really see or hear the programs. Music is often on in the hope that the former dictator could hear something.
So, for now, the 82-year-old stays in his hospital room, an armed guard at the door. Sharon is given physiotherapy and his position is shifted throughout the day to ensure he does not develop bedsores -- the condition, along with pneumonia, that most often leads to fatal complications in elderly patients who lie in a vegetative state.
Former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in late 2004, also went into a vegetative state before dying. He was not a despot like Sharon or Mubarak since he did not rule an independent state, but he always served the Zionists.
After effectively being confined within his Ramallah compound for over two years by the Israeli army, Arafat became ill, fell into a coma, and died on November 11, 2004 at the age of 75. While the exact cause of his death remains unknown and no autopsy was performed, his doctors spoke of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and cirrhosis.
Seeing that this trend has developed and that change is definitely in the air in the Arab world, one cannot help wondering if hated dictator syndrome will become contagious.
Is it a coincidence that deposed despots Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak each purportedly went into a coma shortly after stepping down?
Ariel Sharon also went into a coma for his retirement. However, for the Israeli dictator the sequence of events was a bit different since he became incapacitated while still in office.
According to media reports, Ben Ali -- whose ousting as Tunisian president triggered the popular uprisings across the Middle East -- is in a coma in a Saudi hospital, a family friend has said.
The 74-year-old slipped into a coma on Wednesday while being treated in a Jeddah hospital, the friend said, adding, “He had a stroke, and his condition is serious.”
Ben Ali, his wife Leila Trabelsi, and their inner circle are suspected of having pocketed much of the country’s wealth over the years and taking personal stakes in much of the economy.
Earlier, a spokesman for the interim government that replaced Ben Ali’s regime would neither confirm nor deny reports he was in hospital.
And in a strange type of historical symmetry, according to unconfirmed media reports, former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak is “ailing and bedridden” and may even have slipped into a coma.
Two days after the reports claiming that Mubarak may have slipped into a coma came out, a Saudi official said on Friday that the former Egyptian president has given up and wants to die in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
“He is not dead but is not doing well at all and refuses to leave. Basically, he has given up and wants to die in Sharm,” the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity said.
He added that Saudi Arabia had offered to host Mubarak but said that the former ruler was determined to see out his days in Egypt. Official confirmation could not immediately be obtained from the Saudi government.
The Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Youm reported this week that soon after resigning as president and moving to a resort in Sharm el-Sheikh, the 82-year-old Mubarak became gravely ill and slipped into a coma.
But a pro-government newspaper denied the report, saying Mubarak was suffering psychologically and was declining treatment.
However, Arab diplomats, including one Egyptian, said on Tuesday that to their knowledge, Mubarak had not died.
Former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, who was known as the butcher of Sabra and Shatila, has been in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke on January 4, 2006.
Kept alive through a feeding tube, the former prime minister of Israel continues to open his eyes, and for a few hours a day he is propped up to “watch” television, but no one knows whether he can really see or hear the programs. Music is often on in the hope that the former dictator could hear something.
So, for now, the 82-year-old stays in his hospital room, an armed guard at the door. Sharon is given physiotherapy and his position is shifted throughout the day to ensure he does not develop bedsores -- the condition, along with pneumonia, that most often leads to fatal complications in elderly patients who lie in a vegetative state.
Former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in late 2004, also went into a vegetative state before dying. He was not a despot like Sharon or Mubarak since he did not rule an independent state, but he always served the Zionists.
After effectively being confined within his Ramallah compound for over two years by the Israeli army, Arafat became ill, fell into a coma, and died on November 11, 2004 at the age of 75. While the exact cause of his death remains unknown and no autopsy was performed, his doctors spoke of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and cirrhosis.
Seeing that this trend has developed and that change is definitely in the air in the Arab world, one cannot help wondering if hated dictator syndrome will become contagious.
