Mubarak's detention extended, may be shifted to prison

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Ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's detention has been extended by another 15-day, amid reports that the authorities are mulling sending the former strongman to jail or to a prison hospital.

Public prosecutor Abdel Maguid Mahmud on Friday ordered extension of Mubarak's detention for further 15-day as a team of investigators went to the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh to question the toppled president who is undergoing treatment at a hospital there, official news agency MENA reported.

The renewal of his detention comes in the backdrop of Mahmud ordering a probe into Mubarak's role a deadly crackdown on protesters and corruption. The former president was first remanded to custody on April 15.

"The state prosecutor has decided to renew the detention of ex-president Hosni Mubarak for questioning... effective when his last detention period expires," the agency said. Mubarak's extension of detention comes as the authorities ordered a medical team to rush to Sharm el-Sheikh to ascertain the former president's health condition to have him transfered to Tora prison or to a prison hospital.

Earlier this week, a government judicial panel had fixed ‘ultimate responsibility’ on Mubarak for use of brutal force to suppress the popular uprising against him, which led
to his stepping down from power after 30-year of rule.

The panel comprising serving judges had said that at least 850 people had been killed in three weeks of country wide protest in Egypt since January 11, almost double the number previously banded by Mubarak and his associates.

There have been conflicting reports on the state of health of the former president and the reason for his hospitalisation, but the state news agency yesterday reported that the 82-year-old former strongman's health was unstable.

Arab media reports said Egyptian authorities had ordered preparations to be made at the hospital in Tora prison, south of the capital Cairo to house Mubarak. His two sons, Alaa and Gamal and several of his former ministers and senior aides are already lodged in the prison complex on various charges as part of a sweeping probe into corruption and abuse of office.