29 Mar 2011

Mubarak under house arrest, authorities say

4:45 pm on 29 March 2011

The military authorities in Egypt say former president Hosni Mubarak and his family are under house arrest and not being allowed to leave the country.

Citing reports from AFP and Reuters, the ABC says the authorities are denying that Mr Mubarak, who was swept from power amid a popular uprising in Egypt last month, has fled to Saudi Arabia.

His financial assets remain frozen, pending an investigation into claims of corruption during his 30 years in power.

"There is no truth to reports that former president Hosni Mubarak has left Egypt for Tabuk in Saudi Arabia," the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces said in a statement on Facebook.

"He is under house arrest, with his family, in Egypt."

On 3 March Egypt's prosecutor-general denied media reports that Mr Mubarak was in Saudi Arabia, insisting that he was at the family retreat in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Media reports had suggested that the ousted 82-year-old leader had gone to Tabuk in Saudi Arabia to receive medical treatment for cancer.