SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt: Egypt’s former President Hosni Mubarak suffered a “heart crisis” Tuesday during questioning over the killing of protesters and embezzling of public funds and is now in intensive care, state media said.
Mubarak, ousted on Feb. 11 after 30 years in office, was summoned Sunday by the public prosecutor as part of the investigation.

His sons, Alaa and Gamal, who were being questioned by prosecutors in the south Sinai capital of al-Tor, headed back south to Sharm el-Sheikh after hearing their father had gone into intensive care, a security official said.
State television said earlier Mubarak, 82, suffered a “heart crisis” during the questioning but did not give details and was now in intensive care. It said he was taken to a hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh, where he has been in internal exile since leaving office.

But a hospital manager said Mubarak was well enough to keep answering questions, Arabiya reported. Justice Minister Mohammad al-Guindy was questioning Mubarak, it said. It added that questioning continued with Alaa and Gamal in the Red Sea resort.

Prosecutors had begun questioning Mubarak and his son Gamal earlier Tuesday, Guindi was quoted as saying by MENA. “But the questioning over acquiring wealth illegally has not yet started as that will be handled by the department of illicit gains,” he said.
Arabiya said earlier that Mubarak was being questioned in South Sinai, where Sharm el-Sheikh is located.
Two security officials said Mubarak earlier arrived under heavy police

protection to the main hospital and, according to two doctors in the hospital, he stepped out of his armored Mercedes-Benz unaided and was taken to the presidential suite in the pyramid-shaped building.State television reported that the hospital was not accepting any patients except for emergency cases.

Dozens of demonstrators picketed the hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, denouncing the president and carrying a sign reading “Here is the butcher.” They scuffled with supporters of Mubarak amid a massive security presence.

The protest movement that deposed Mubarak is now pushing for him to be brought to justice for what they say are decades of abuse and since Friday, hundreds have reoccupied parts of Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo.
However, a scuffle broke out Tuesday when some residents tried to break up the four-day sit-in, removing barbed-wire and barricades. The army then moved in and took control of the square and cordoned off the once grassy roundabout that had been the center of many demonstrations.

Troops with machineguns rounded up several young men and pushed them into vans. Others hauled the coils of barbed wire and makeshift barriers erected during the protest onto military trucks, while men toured the sprawling square picking up debris. By early evening, traffic was flowing through Tahrir.
A youth coalition that helped organize the revolt said it had persuaded the remaining protesters to reopen Tahrir as they were doing the country no good by staying.

“We met with the [ruling] military council yesterday and discussed opening Tahrir. We agreed to end the protest and give the army a chance to proceed,” said Mohammad Sukri, a member of the Revolutionary Youth Coalition.
“The military council thanks the youth of the January revolution for returning Tahrir Square to normal,” it said in a statement.

Protester Mohammad Zaidan, who said he belonged to no group and was still in the square when the army arrived, gave a different account. “We didn’t agree with anyone to clear Tahrir,” said the 25-year-old Zaidan. “We were attacked by rock-throwing people who wanted to force us out and then the army came, didn’t speak to us and suddenly moved in to force us out of the square.”

Mubarak has suffered from health problems in recent years and went to Germany for gall bladder surgery in 2010. Rumors about his health frequently emerged as Mubarak aged in office and were particularly common after his last surgery.
Mubarak had vowed to die in Egypt when he addressed the country’s 80 million people shortly before he stepped down in the wake of mass protests.

Al-Ahram newspaper reported earlier Tuesday that Mubarak had received the summons to appear before a Cairo court for questioning and that special security was being arranged. It quoted Interior Minister Mansour al-Essawy as saying Mubarak would give testimony on accusations directed against him at a court on the eastern outskirts of Cairo.

Many of Mubarak’s senior aides have already either been questioned or detained pending investigations.
Egypt’s state TV reported that Safwat al-Sherif, a senior aide of Mubarak and one of the most powerful men in his regime, was ordered detained for a further15 days pending a probe into his role in attacks on protesters during the uprising.

Sherif had already been remanded into custody for 15 days pending corruption investigations.
Mubarak said Sunday on Al-Arabiya that information sent to the prosecutor would show he owned no financial assets or real estate abroad.

“I have been, and still am, pained by what I and my family are facing from fraudulent campaigns and unfounded allegations that seek to harm my reputation, my integrity and my military and political record,” Mubarak said.
He said he only had assets and bank accounts in one Egyptian bank, as he had previously disclosed.