Mubarak hospitalized after suffering heart attack during questioning

CAIRO - Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was hospitalized in a Red Sea resort after suffering a heart attack during questioning by prosecutors for alleged corruption and abuse of power stemming from his near 30-year rule, state media reported.

"Hosni Mubarak went into intensive care at the Sharm el-Sheikh International Hospital after suffering a heart attack," the official MENA agency said. Authorities said Mubarak was accompanied by his sons Alaa and Gamal, both of whom were also being questioned by prosecutors.

The news agency reported that the ousted president's condition had stabilized and that he "can be interrogated." State TV said Mubarak refused to eat or drink Tuesday morning after he was informed he and his sons would be questioned.

Mubarak, 82, has been in ill health for more than a year. State media indicated, however, that the hospital visit may have been a ploy to escape his legal problems. The former leader and his sons were summoned by Egypt's attorney general on charges of illegal gains and violence against protesters during a popular uprising that started Jan. 25 and resulted in Mubarak's resignation Feb. 11.

Mubarak was admitted to the hospital "with the pretext of illness to avoid appearing before interrogation authorities," the state-run newspaper Al Ahram reported. He and his son, Gamal, a former ruling party official, have been accused by political opponents of enriching themselves through private and government connections.

In a recorded address to the nation aired by Al Arabiya on Sunday, the elder Mubarak tried to clear his name of wrongdoing by denying he held bank accounts or properties outside Egypt. News of investigations into the Mubarak family's financial dealings have fascinated and angered a country attempting to move beyond his repressive police state.

Since his overthrow and a government takeover by a military council, Mubarak has been living in his private palace in Sharm el-Sheikh. The attorney general has frozen his financial assets and banned his family members from leaving the country. Concerns over Mubarak's health increased after he underwent a gallbladder surgery and had a growth removed from his intestine at a German hospital one year ago.

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