Egypt's Mubarak detained, army win protest respite
CAIRO |
(Reuters) - Hosni Mubarak was ordered detained for 15 days on Wednesday, winning the ruling army generals a respite from protests by quashing suspicions that they were shielding their former commander from investigation.
Mubarak, driven from presidential office on February 11 by mass demonstrations against his 30-year rule, was taken to a hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh on Tuesday with what state media called a "heart crisis." Reports disagree on how serious his illness is.
The public prosecutor had summoned and questioned Mubarak, 82, over the killing of protesters, embezzling of public funds and abuse of power. More than 380 protesters were killed in 18 days of demonstrations that led to Mubarak's downfall.
His two sons, Alaa and Gamal, have also been questioned as part of the probe and ordered detained, state television said.
"Former President Hosni Mubarak was detained for 15 days for investigation," state television reported in a brief headline. Judicial sources confirmed the report.
In his first public comment since stepping down, broadcast on Al Arabiya on Sunday, Mubarak denied wrongdoing.
A security source told Reuters Mubarak was likely to remain for security reasons in detention in Sharm el-Sheikh, the Red Sea resort where he has been in internal exile since quitting.
A source cited by the official news agency MENA said the former president would be moved from the hospital to a place of detention once his health permits, but the site had yet to be determined.
Al Jazeera television reported earlier that an army helicopter had arrived in Sharm to take him to the capital Cairo. A security source told Reuters "the helicopter has left without him because his health is unstable."
State television said Mubarak was admitted to an intensive care unit at the hospital late on Tuesday after a "heart crisis" during questioning.
Half a dozen dark blue state security trucks were parked outside the hospital on Wednesday. A medical source said Mubarak was still there and described his health as "unstable."
Mubarak's sons were taken to a prison on the outskirts of Cairo, joining a list of ex-ministers and officials under investigation and held in the same jail, MENA said.
Gamal, 47, Mubarak's younger son, held a top post in the ruling party. Many Egyptians believed he was being groomed for top office, though both father and son denied any such plan.
"This is a serious step forward in holding the president accountable and ends any suspicion that the state and the military were in cahoots with Mubarak," said Hassan Nafaa, a political scientist and activist for reform.
"WE WANT OUR MONEY"
Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians protested on Friday in Cairo's Tahrir Square against delays in trying Mubarak and criticized Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the army council head who was Mubarak's defense minister for 20 years.
"The military council moved fast because of the pressure protesters have built up in Tahrir. In the past weeks there has been real criticism of Tantawi and the military council that they are slow and looking after Mubarak as their commander," said Shadi Ghazali Harb, from a pro-democracy youth movement.
He said plans for a protest this Friday were on hold to see how swiftly the army and prosecutor moved toward a trial.
Political analyst Fahmy Hueidi said: "The army succumbed to people pressure to bring Mubarak and family to justice."
On Tuesday, soldiers broke up a five-day sit-in at Tahrir Square, the center of the January uprising. Protesters had vowed to keep up the pressure, but many Egyptians are tired of the protests that have hit the economy and disrupted their lives.
The timing of Mubarak's illness prompted skepticism among some protesters about the motives of the army, which has pushed for swift elections to hand over power. The army praised and thanked Mubarak when he left office, but protesters criticized him for ruling by emergency law and widening a rich-poor divide.
"We want our money. We want the thief to be tried," chanted dozens of people near the hospital on Tuesday in the resort where Mubarak spent more and more time before leaving office.
Diplomats say there is no sign the military wants to hold on in government but say it may loom in the background as the nation's self-appointed guardian.
Mubarak has had health problems and went to Germany for gall bladder surgery in March 2010. There were often rumors about his health, especially after his last bout of surgery.
(Additional reporting by Tom Pfeiffer, Marwa Awad, Dina Zayed, Asmaa Waguih and Patrick Werr; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Tim Pearce)
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