(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's former president, has been detained along with his two powerful sons pending investigations into accusations of corruption and abuse of authority, the prosecutor general has said.
Hours after the former leader was hospitalised as he was questioned, a statement from the prosecutor's office, posted on Facebook early on Wednesday, announced the detention of the three men.
"The prosecutor general orders the detention of former President Hosni Mubarak and his sons Gamal and Alaa for 15 days pending investigation after the prosecutor general presented them with the current state of its ongoing investigations," it read.
It said the ongoing investigation was into allegations of corruption, the wasting of public money, and the abuse of position for personal gain.
Mubarak's sons Gamal and his business brother Alaa were driven away in a police van with drawn curtains as an angry crowd of 2,000 people pelted the car with water bottles, stones and their flip-flops, a sign of disrespect in the Arab world.
"Brothers, whatever you wanted, you have got ... 15 days," said Major-General Mohammed el-Khatib, the head of provincial security in the South Sinai.
Gamal, Mubarak's younger son, was a senior official in the ruling party and was widely seen as being groomed to succeed his father before popular protests brought down the regime.
His increasing role in the government over the last decade and the belief that he might succeed his father helped galvanise Egypt's protest movement.
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