Hosni Mubarak was been ordered detained for 15 days, a move that may help quash accusations against Egypt's ruling army generals that they have been shielding him from investigation.
The former president, who was toppled on February 11th after mass demonstrations against his 30-year rule, was admitted to hospital last night suffering what state media called a "heart crisis".
A medical source at the hospital said his health is "unstable”.
The public prosecutor had summoned him for questioning on Sunday over the killing of protesters and embezzling of public funds. His two sons, Alaa and Gamal, were also summoned for questioning over alleged corruption and ordered detained for 15 days, state TV said.
"Former president Hosni Mubarak was detained for 15 days for investigation," state television reported in a brief headline.
In his first public comment since stepping down, broadcast on Al Arabiya on Sunday, Mr Mubarak denied wrongdoing.
A security source said Mr Mubarak was likely to remain for security reasons in detention in Sharm el-Sheikh, the Red Sea resort where he has been in internal exile since leaving office.
An airport source in Sharm el-Sheikh said the former president’ sons had left the town for a prison in Cairo. They join a list of ex-ministers and officials under investigation and held in jail.
Gamal Mubarak (47) younger son, held a top post in the ruling party. Many Egyptians believed he was being groomed for top office, although both father and son denied any such plan.
The army council, which has ruled since Mr Mubarak quit, had faced increasingly loud calls for former members of the regime to be held to account. Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians criticised the army in a protest on Friday over the failure to prosecute the president swiftly.
Yesterday, soldiers broke up a five-day sit-in at Tahrir Square, which became the epicentre of Egypt's uprising in January. Protesters had vowed to keep up the pressure.
The timing of Mr Mubarak's health setback had prompted scepticism among some protesters, who have complained about the failure of the military to pursue him and his allies more swiftly. They argue that the army is protecting one of their own.
The army had praised and thanked Mr Mubarak when he left office, but protesters criticised his rule by emergency law and say he encouraged a rich and poor divide. "We want our money. We want the thief to be tried," dozens of people chanted during a protest outside the hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh.
Mr Mubarak has suffered from health problems in recent years and went to Germany for gall bladder surgery in March 2010. There were frequent rumours about his health as he aged, particularly after his last bout of surgery.
Reuters