president Hosni Mubarak, in detention pending a probe into state violence against protesters, was reported Thursday to be in “stable” condition after suffering a heart attack. The official MENA news agency in a brief statement said the 82-year-old former strongman's condition was “stable and reassuring.” Egyptian protesters who spearheaded a popular uprising that toppled Mubarak in February, hailed his detention and that of his two sons as a “positive step” by the army. All three were placed under 15 days detention Wednesday, with Mubarak incarcerated in hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh after suffering a heart attack during interrogation by prosecutors the previous day. His two sons, Gamal and Alaa, are being held in Cairo's Tora prison complex, home to other fallen officials and some of the country's most notorious political prisoners. Chief prosecutor Abdel Maguid Mahmud authorized the detention for 15 days “as part of an inquiry into the use of force against protesters during the unrest in January and February,” an official statement said. The US, a longtime Mubarak ally, kept mum on the move, saying it was an internal Egyptian matter. The youth group that spearheaded the protests that toppled Mubarak and has since pressed for his trial, was elated and said it would suspend a demonstration planned for Friday. “This is a positive step, and we hope it is followed by the release of protesters arrested during the revolution and after,” said Shadi Ghazali Harb, an organizer with the Youth of the Jan. 25 Revolution group. “We've suspended the planned protest for Friday; this was a main demand and the first step has been achieved,” he said. Meanwhile, Egypt's military rulers said Thursday they were reviewing cases of young protesters jailed in the aftermath of the popular uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak and that they also sacked several provincial governors appointed by the former president. The moves meant to defuse tensions between the military, which took control of Egypt after Mubarak's ouster, and the protesters determined to keep up the pressure and demand for sweeping reforms.
