Egypt prosecutor extends Mubarak detention by 15 days pending investigation

Egypt's state prosecutor on Tuesday renewed the detention of former president Hosni Mubarak for another 15 days amid a probe into the killing of protesters and corruption, Al Arabiya correspondent said quoting a statement issued by the prosecutor’s office.
Egypt’s prosecution has extended the remand for Mr. Mubarak’s sons Alaa and Gamal, by another 15 days on Monday.

Mr. Mubarak and his two sons were detained on April 13 on charges of corruption and to determine their involvement in the shootings of protestors during the uprising in January that forced the 83-year-old president to step down after more than 30 years in office.

Mr. Mubarak is still being treated in a hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh with plans to transfer him to a military hospital “as soon as his health condition stabilizes,” Interior Minister Mansour al-Essawy had said in a letter to the public prosecutor.

Mr. Mubarak suffers a heart condition that requires intensive care, according to the letter.

On April 15, Egyptian media reported that Mr. Mubarak could face the death penalty if the probe proves him guilty of ordering the violence against protesters. But few people expect that he will be put to death, even if he were to be found guilty.

He was detained after former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly stated that Mr. Mubarak himself ordered the use of violence.

Mr. Mubarak’s trial may take at least a year, said Zakaria Shalash, head of Cairo’s appeals court in an interview with the Egyptian newspaper al-Ahram.

(Abeer Tayel of Al Arabiya can be reached at [e-mail] and Dina al-Shibeeb, also of Al Arabiya can be reached at: [e-mail])