WASHINGTON: The United States kept mum about the fate of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, a former long-serving US ally who was detained Wednesday in a probe into violence against protesters who ousted him.
"Egypt is navigating a very difficult transition. It’s trying to set in place democratic processes, but it’s really a matter for the Egyptian government to address," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters.
Toner said "this is their action, it’s their country and we don’t have any comment on" the decision to detain him as well as his two sons.
Chief prosecutor Abdel Meguid Mahmoud authorized the detention of the three for 15 days "as part of an inquiry into the use of force against protesters during the unrest in January and February."
Earlier Wednesday, the official MENA news agency said the 82-year-old Mubarak, in police custody in a Red Sea resort hospital after suffering a heart attack, was in "unstable" condition and under observation.
But by Thursday morning an army source told Reuters that Mubarak’s health is stable but has not improved.
