Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak (82) was admitted to hospital today, state television reported, two days after he was summoned to take part in an investigation by the public prosecutor.
Mr Mubarak was taken to hospital after suffering a "heart crisis" when he was being questioned during an investigation, state television reported.
The former president, ousted on February 11th after 30 years in office, was summoned by the public prosecutor on Sunday as part of investigations into the killing of protesters and embezzlement of public funds. Mr Mubarak denied any wrongdoing in a recorded message broadcast on Al Arabiya television on Sunday.
Mr Mubarak has suffered from health problems in recent years and went to Germany for gall bladder surgery in March 2010.
"Mubarak entered Sharm el-Sheikh international hospital for treatment," state television reported.
The website of the state-owned publisher of Al Ahram newspaper said the president might not have to go to Cairo to attend the investigation because of his admission to hospital.
Mr 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 today that Mr 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 el-Essawy as saying the former president would give testimony on accusations directed against him at a court on the eastern outskirts of Cairo. It did not say when he would appear or what the accusations were.
Prosecutors from Egypt's South Sinai region have begun questioning Mr Mubarak's two sons, a judicial source said today.
Alaa and Gamal Mubarak were summoned by Egyptian state prosecutors probing accusations of embezzlement. Their father has said details of their bank accounts will disprove suspicions of profiteering and illegal gains.
Mubarak's younger son, Gamal, held a top post in Egypt's former ruling party. A widely held belief that he was being groomed for the presidency helped galvanise the popular opposition that toppled his father from power.