Mubarak admitted to hospital

“Mubarak was admitted to the Sharm el-Sheikh International Hospital this afternoon, amid a very heavy security presence in the town,” a security source told AFP news agency.

Mubarak, 82, stood down on 11 February following an 18-day popular uprising against his rule. He had been reported to be in bad health but aides had denied this.

Mubarak, his sons and their wives have been banned from leaving the country and their assets have been frozen.



Correspondents say he has been keeping a low profile in Sharm el-Sheikh, a Red Sea resort, after fleeing to his holiday villa there when he was overthrown.

Corruption charges

Meanwhile, Egypt’s Prime Minister Essam Sharaf on Tuesday said that legal steps were underway to probe veracity of charges of corruption and excesses against toppled president Hosni Mubarak.

Responding to the statement by Mubarak that he and his family were not guilty of corruption, Sharaf said: “No one is above law and anyway the legal steps are underway.”

In his maiden address to the people, live on TV, the new prime minister apologised for a violent military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters on Saturday. Sharaf’s comments came as authorities widened a crackdown on former key officials of the Mubarak regime clamour for which is growing in the country, triggering a re-occupation of the iconic Tahrir Square by pro-democracy protesters demanding that the ousted president be put on trial.

Two persons were killed and scores wounded on Saturday when the protesters raising the demands had a showdown with the military for the first time. Authorities detained Safwat Al-Sherif, the former Secretary General of the country’s largest National Democratic Party, in signs that the noose may be tightening against ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

Al-Sherif was detained for 15 days on corruption charges and interrogated for 12-hours. Sherif was a key ally of the former President and served as Egypt’s public face for over 20 years as the Information Minister.