Egypt probe: Mubarak suffers ‘heart crisis’ during questioning

The former president is possibly trying to avoid questioning: Al-Ahram.

CAIRO:

Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was taken to hospital on Tuesday after suffering a “heart crisis” when he was being questioned during an investigation, state television reported.

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

Hospital director Moham­med Fathallah confirmed
on Egyptian television that the former president had
arrived at the hospital at
5:00 pm.

Asked if Mubarak was in good health, the doctor replied: “Somewhat.”

Mubarak was admitted by his bodyguards to the VIP wing of the hospital, state television reported, adding that the hospital was not accepting any patients except for emergency cases.

Police cars and ambulances surrounded the hospital, as well as a heavy military and police presence, the television said.

His admission to hospital follows state media reports that he was being grilled or was due to be questioned over violence against protesters and alleged corruption.

On Sunday, public prosecutor Abdel Magid Mahmud ordered Mubarak and his sons to be questioned, as part of a sweeping probe into corruption and abuse.

Meanwhile, soldiers and police moved into Cairo’s Tahrir Square to end a five-day sit-in by protesters demanding civilian rule and swifter prosecution of Egypt’s former president and his allies.

Troops with machineguns rounded up several young men and pushed them into vans. Others hauled the
coils of barbed wire and makeshift barriers erected during the protest onto military trucks.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 13^th, 2011.