Egypt extends Mubarak’s detention

A mass uprising that began on January 25 toppled Mubarak from power [EPA]

Egypt’s public prosecutor has extended the detention of Hosni Mubarak, the ousted president, by another 15 days as investigators probe him over corruption and allegations he ordered the killing of protesters during the uprising that ultimately unseated him.

Abdel Maguid Mahmud, the prosecutor general, “has ordered the preventative detention of former president Hosni Mubarak for 15 days that will begin when his current detention ends on May 12”, a statement from Mahmud’s office said on Tuesday.

The renewal comes as Egyptian authorities jailed a second former cabinet minister for five years for squandering public funds.

A team of investigators is questioning Mubarak at a hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where he is currently under arrest.

He is being held in connection with ordering the shooting of protesters during the anti-regime rallies that began on January 25, and also on corruption-related charges.

Mubarak was hospitalised on April 12 after suffering a heart attack and was put under preventative detention the following day, two months after he was overthrown by a popular uprising.

Ex-tourism minister jailed

About a dozen other former top Mubarak-era officials, including a former prime minister and the speakers of parliament’s two chambers have been detained on suspicion of corruption, along with Mubarak and his sons .

Zoheir Garranah, who headed the tourism portfolio, was found guilty of handing out tourism licences illegally, judicial sources said on Tuesday.

Garranah’s sentencing comes days after former interior minister Habib al-Adly was jailed for 12 years for money laundering and corruption. Al-Adly faces a second trial on charges of ordering police to shoot protesters, as well as a further corruption charge.

Egypt’s military council, which has run the country since Mubarak was toppled, has said it wants to crack down on abuses of power and corruption.