Egypt detains Mubarak for 15 days

Mubarak and sons detained amid corruption probe

Egypt's prosecutor general has ordered the detention of former President Hosni Mubarak, ahead of an investigation into corruption and abuse allegations.

Mr Mubarak, 82, is in hospital after reportedly suffering heart problems. His detention order will be in place for 15 days, state TV reported.

His sons Alaa and Gamal have also been detained amid allegations of corruption and violence, police say.

Mr Mubarak stood down in February after a popular uprising against his rule.

Since then, tens of thousands of protesters have staged weekly Friday protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square, demanding that he stand trial.

At least 360 people are thought to have been killed during the protests, as police opened fire and cracked down on the crowds. Rights groups say the figure is much higher.

There are also widespread allegations of corruption and abuse of power under Mr Mubarak's 30-year rule.

"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," said a post on the prosecutor general's Facebook page on Wednesday.

he announcement came a day after Mr Mubarak had been admitted to hospital with heart problems, although reports indicated that he was well enough to undergo questioning.

The former Egyptian leader had been keeping a low profile in Sharm el-Sheikh, a Red Sea resort, after fleeing to his holiday villa there when he was overthrown.

Late on Tuesday, a crowd of about 2,000 people had gathered outside the hospital, demanding that the sons be arrested.

As a police van with drawn curtains took away the two brothers for questioning, the crowd pelted it with water bottles, stones and their flip-flops, the AP news agency reported.

On Wednesday morning the pair were transferred to Tora prison complex in Cairo, home to other fallen officials and and some of the country's most notorious political prisoners.

Speculation that the younger son, Gamal, was being groomed to take over from his father helped to galvanise Egypt's protest movement.

Gamal, an investment banker, was a high-ranking member of President Mubarak's ruling party. His close associates were billionaires and held top positions in the ruling party and the government.

Mr Mubarak, along with his sons and their wives, have been banned from leaving the country. The family's assets have been frozen.

In a pre-recorded audio message on Sunday, he broke his silence of the last two months to say his reputation and that of his sons had been damaged and he would work to clear their names.

On Tuesday, Egyptian soldiers and police moved into Tahrir Square in Cairo and ended a sit-in by protesters demanding civilian rule and swifter prosecution of former officials.

A military council has been ruling Egypt since Mr Mubarak stepped down.

CBS’s Lara Logan attacked in Egypt at Tahrir celebration

CBS’s Logan suffered ‘brutal’ attack in Egypt.

CBS News correspondent Lara Logan "suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating" on Feb. 11 in Egypt, according to a network statement.

The incident took place as Logan was covering celebrations in Tahrir Square for "60 Minutes" shortly after the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak. Logan and her security team "were surrounded by a dangerous element amidst the celebration," according to the CBS statement. There were over 200 people in the mob.

"In the crush of the mob, she was separated from her crew," the statement continued. "She was surrounded and suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating before being saved by a group of women and an estimated 20 Egyptian soldiers."

Logan reconnected with her team and returned to the United States the next morning. She's currently recovering in a hospital.

During the Egyptian uprising, numerous journalists were attacked by pro-Mubarak mobs and arrested. Unlike the attack on Logan, which took place after Mubarak left office, most took place during a two-day period when Mubarak supporters hit the streets. The attack on Logan shows the danger to foreign correspondents reporting from hot spots around the world.

Journalists continue to face threats in the Middle East and North Africa, as protests inspired by events in Egypt and Tunisia take place throughout the region. On Monday, government loyalists in Yemen attacked a BBC reporter and his cameraman.

Nearly two weeks ago, Logan described the difficulties facing foreign journalists in Egypt--a country not unlike other authoritarian regimes in its treatment of the press--just before she was also detained by police. Watch below:

Logan spoke to Esquire about her earlier police interrogation on Feb. 10, the night before the attack transpired.

"We were all blindfolded," Logan told the magazine. "They blindfolded me, but they said if I didn't take it off they wouldn't tie my hands. They kept us in stress positions—they wouldn't let me put my head down. It was all through the night. We were pretty exhausted."

She said Egyptian police also accused her crew of being "Israeli spies" or agents. "We were accused of everything," she said.

But Logan, who had returned to the United States after the police detention, wasn't going to sit out the rest of a major revolution. She decided to return to Egypt on Feb. 10, telling Esquire "there's no doubt in my mind that the situation we were caught in before, we are now arriving into again."

The New York Times noted Tuesday that "some female journalists complained about being singled out by crowds" while covering the protests in Egypt. However, it's unclear at this time if there were other incidents of sexual assault involving journalists.

The crowd in Tahrir Square during the early days of the protest was overwhelmingly male. But as the protests grew, the crowd resembled a cross-section of Egyptian society, with women and children present at demonstrations. That continued through the celebrations following Mubarak's resignation, which until this incident, have been largely viewed in a positive light.

CBS said Tuesday that there will be no further comment and that "Logan and her family respectfully request privacy at this time."

Dave Lindahl Scam

WikiLeaks Cables on Egypt

WikiLeaks Cables and Websites News Updates

Diplomatic cables sent from American diplomats in Cairo — 2,752 are in the collection obtained by the antisecrecy group WikiLeaks – provide crucial background on the people and institutions in Egypt's government during the current struggle for the country's future.

They also show American officials' close ties to the government of President Hosni Mubarak, despite occasional discomfort with his autocratic rule.

During a 2009 visit from Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak offered an analysis of Iraq that reflected both his fear of Iran and his doubts about democracy, according to a previously unpublished cable.

"Senator McConnell asked if the United States had made it easier for Iran by removing Saddam," the cable reported. "'Yes, removing Saddam from power was the biggest mistake ever committed,'" Mr. Mubarak replied.

The Egyptian leader said the Iraqi people "are are tough and bloody, and they need a very tough leader. They will not be submissive to a democratic leader."

Other cables offer revealing portraits of Omar Suleiman, the longtime intelligence chief, now promoted to vice president and overseeing talks with opposition figures, and Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi, the defense minister. Cables make clear how the Mubarak regime has long used the putative threat of Islamic radicalism from the Muslim Brotherhood, the largest opposition group, to warn the United States not to push too hard for democracy in Egypt. And the cables shed light on Egypt's role in countering Hamas in Gaza and helping to manage Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

Continue Reading Here:

Dave Lindahl Scam

Malaria may have killed 'boy king' Tutankhamun

'Malaria and weak bones' may have killed Tutankhamun

The Egyptian 'boy king' Tutankhamun may well have died of malaria after the disease ravaged a body crippled by a rare bone disorder.

The findings could lay to rest conspiracy theories of murder. The scientists spent the last two years scrutinising the mummified remains of the 19-year old pharaoh to extract his blood and DNA.

This revealed traces of the malaria parasite in his blood, the Journal of the American Medical Association says.

Ever since Howard Carter's discovery of Tutankhamun's intact tomb in the Valley of the Kings in 1922, scholars have speculated over why the 19-year old 'boy king' died so young.

Some believe he was killed by a fall from his chariot. Others suspect foul play. Because he died so young, and left no heirs, scholars have speculated that, instead, he may have suffered from a disease that ran in his family.

Artifacts have shown the royalty of that era as having a somewhat curvaceous and rather feminine appearance, which some say would be typical of inherited conditions like Marfan syndrome. But Egypt's chief archaeologist Dr Zahi Hawass rejects these explanations.

He and his team have painstakingly picked over the remains of Tutankhamun and 10 other royal mummies from his family - two of which they have now confirmed using genetic fingerprinting to be the young king's grandmother and most probably his father.

They say there is no compelling evidence to suggest King Tut or indeed any of his royal ancestors had Marfan's - the voluptuous artefacts, they believe, are a red herring and merely reflect the fashion of the time.

But they did confirm that the king may have had some form of inherited disease, a rare bone disorder affecting the foot called Kohler disease II, as well as a club foot and a curvature of the spine.

Although this was not his ultimate downfall, it would explain why among his possessions there were sticks and staves that could have been used as walking canes, say the researchers.

Not long before his death, the king fractured his leg, and the scientists think this was important.

The bone did not heal properly and began to die. This would have left the young king frail and susceptible to infection. What finished him off, they believe, was a bout of malaria on top of his general ill health.

The scientists found traces of the malaria parasite in the pharaoh's blood - the oldest mummified genetic proof for malaria in ancient populations that we have.

Dr Hawass and his team say: "A sudden leg fracture possibly introduced by a fall might have resulted in a life-threatening condition when a malaria infection occurred.

"Seeds, fruits and leaves found in the tomb, and possibly used as medical treatment, support this diagnosis." Dr Bob Connolly, a senior lecturer in physical anthropology at Liverpool University, has examined Tutankhamun himself.

He said the researchers had been incredibly lucky to be able to extract the DNA for study. "His is not a beautifully preserved mummy. It's a charred wreck. Hawass and his team have been incredibly clever and lucky to do this."

He said it was possible that the king died from malaria, but he personally doubted it. "Just because he had the parasite in his blood does not necessarily mean he suffered from malaria or died from it. It may not have caused him any trouble."

"I still think he died from a fall from his chariot. His chest cavity was also caved in and he had broken ribs."