Mubarak placed in detention for 15 days

A protester wearing a mask of ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak stands with handcuffs inside a makeshift prison cell at Cairo's Tahrir Square on April 8. Mubarak has been placed in detention for 15 days, prosecutors said Wednesday, after state media reported his two sons had also been detained as part of an inquiry into the use of force against protesters.

AFP - Egypt's ex-president Hosni Mubarak has been placed in detention for 15 days, prosecutors said Wednesday, after state media reported his two sons had also been detained as part of an inquiry into the use of force against protesters.

In a statement on the public prosecutor's Facebook page, a spokesman said the prosecutor Abdel Maguid Mahmoud authorised the detentions "as part of an inquiry into the use of force against protesters during the unrest in January and February."

Earlier state television said Mubarak's sons Gamal and Alaa have been placed in detention accused of incitement to fire at demonstrators during the revolution that lasted from January 25 till February 11 when their father reluctantly stepped down.

Nearly 800 people died during the uprising.