Mubarak’s admission came as prosecutors began questioning his sons, Alaa and Gamal, in the south Sinai capital of Al-Tor, a judicial source said.
Mubarak was admitted to the Sharm El-Sheikh International Hospital in the Red Sea resort where has been living with his family since nationwide protests forced him to step down in February.
State television reported that Mubarak had refused to eat or drink since he received news Tuesday morning that he was to be questioned.
On Sunday, public prosecutor Abdel Magid Mahmud ordered the inquiry, as part of a sweeping probe into corruption and abuse.
Nationwide protests that erupted on Jan. 25 forced Mubarak to give up his 30-year grip on power and hand the reins to a military council.
“Mubarak was admitted to the Sharm El-Sheikh International Hospital this afternoon, amid a very heavy security presence in the town,” a security source told AFP.
He was admitted by his bodyguards to the VIP wing of the hospital, state television reported, adding that the hospital was not accepting any patients except for emergency cases.
Police cars and ambulances surrounded the hospital, as well as a heavy military police presence, the television said.
The former president was dressed in a black and white track suit, a witness said.
Asked if Mubarak was in good health, hospital director Mohammed Fathallah replied: “Somewhat.”
The state-owned daily Al-Ahram, citing sources in Sharm El-Sheikh, said on its website that Mubarak had gone to hospital “under the pretext of being unwell in order to avoid facing questioning.”
The Mubaraks were to be asked about allegations that they were “connected to the crimes of assault against protesters, leading to deaths and injuries,” the official MENA news agency said Sunday.
The riots, which saw repeated clashes between protesters, and police and Mubarak loyalists left an estimated 800 people dead and more than 6,000 injured.
The former president was also to be quizzed about allegations of graft, MENA added.
The prosecutor’s summons came after the broadcast of an audio tape in which Mubarak defended his reputation and after weeks of mounting protests calling for him to be put on trial. In the audio message aired on the pan-Arab television network Al-Arabiya, Mubarak complained he was the victim of a smear campaign.
– Agence France-Presse
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