Mubarak summoned for questioning by public prosecutor

By Agence France-Presse

CAIRO (AFP) – Egypt's public prosecutor on Sunday ordered ousted president Hosni Mubarak and his sons to be questioned over violence against protesters and alleged corruption, MENA state news agency reported.

"The public prosecutor Abdel Magid Mahmud decided today to ask for the questioning of former president Hosni Mubarak and his sons Gamal and Alaa," the official news agency reported.

Mubarak and his sons would be questioned about allegations and legal complaints that they were "connected to the crimes of assault against protesters, leading to deaths and injuries," said MENA.

He would also be quizzed on allegations of graft, it added.

An estimated 800 people were killed in clashes with police and the former president's supporters during weeks of protests that led to Mubarak's resignation on February 11.

Sunday's announcement came hours after a pan-Arab television network aired Mubarak's first comments since he resigned on February 11 following weeks of anti-regime protests.

In the audio message, the 82-year-old complained he was the victim of a smear campaign.

He pledged his assistance in a probe of his family's foreign assets, but his defiant tone in threatening lawsuits against the media angered Egyptians who have been pressing for his trial.

After he resigned, Mubarak and his family moved to a residence in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, and although he faced a travel ban, his relative freedom remained a thorn in the side of the military rulers.

Weekly protests demanding his trial have attracted tens of thousands and eventually led to a deadly clash with soldiers on Saturday after they tried to clear an overnight demonstration in Cairo's Tahrir Square.