Ousted president Hosni Mubarak is expected to face trial at the Red Sea resort after a medical committee ruled he was too unwell to be moved to Cairo, Gamal Essam El-Din reports Official sources confirmed that deposed president Hosni Mubarak will not be moved to Cairo to stand trial on charges of manslaughter and illegal profiteering. Prosecutor-General Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud, who ordered on 23 May that Mubarak be referred to trial, said on 31 May that the six-member medical committee tasked with examining Mubarak had concluded he was too unwell to be transferred to the hospital of south Cairo's prison of Tora. The committee has recommended that he stay at the International Sharm El-Sheikh Hospital for the time being. The committee reported that Mubarak suffers from severe heart palpitations, weak blood circulation to the brain resulting in irregular heartbeat and is in a severe state of depression. Mubarak should not be transferred "outside of Sharm El-Sheikh hospital", the committee said, and recommended "a specialised medical team be hired to oversee his treatment". "The committee examined the defendant in his intensive care room and found him frail and depressed. He is unable to leave his bed without assistance." Tora prison hospital on Cairo's southern outskirts was "unsuitable for a patient in a critical condition". The report also revealed that Mubarak has cancerous tumours in his gall bladder and pancreas, for which he has had operations in the past. "He has undergone surgery before in Germany for these tumours," the report said. The prosecution-general's spokesman Adel El-Said said copies of two reports made by the medical committee will be sent to the chairman of Cairo's Criminal Court -- where Mubarak was supposed to stand trial -- and to the Interior Minister Mansour El-Eissawi. "After considering the two reports it will be up to the court to give a final decision on where Mubarak stands trial," said El-Said. "Meanwhile the interior minister will do his best to prepare the Tora prison hospital so that it is sufficiently well-equipped to receive Mubarak." Minister of Justice Mohamed Abdel-Aziz El-Guindi indicated on Tuesday that in addition to the medical reports, security conditions may not permit Mubarak to be transferred to Cairo." Mubarak's lawyer, Farid El-Deeb, told CNN television channel that "Mubarak's health is so bad that he cannot go to the bathroom without assistance." El-Deeb said that "when informed of the prosecutor-general's order that he was to face trial Mubarak fell into a deep depression". The recent announcements about Mubarak's health will fan speculation that the former president's supposed illness is being used as an excuse not to stage a public trial. Last Friday's demonstration in Tahrir Square saw many groups demanding the ruling military junta ensure the trial of Mubarak be open and televised. Mubarak faces two main charges: ordering former interior minister Habib El-Adli and other senior police officers to open fire on protesters during the 25 January Revolution, and securing illegal profits from selling Egyptian natural gas to Israel via his business associate Hussein Salem. The Ministry of Justice's Illegal Profits Office (IGO) ordered that Mubarak be detained for 15 days pending investigation of his wealth. Media reports have appeared suggesting the former president had amassed between $9 billion and $11 billion. Leading political commentator Mohamed Hassanein Heikal was summoned by the IGO on 23 May after he said in a press interview that both the World Bank and the CIA (America's Central Intelligence Agency) had documented Mubarak's wealth at around $11 billion. IGO Chairman Assem El-Gohari subsequently dismissed Heikal's supposed evidence as "newspaper clippings". El-Deeb told the CNN that Mubarak's personal wealth stands at LE6 million ($1 million) and "does not include a single dollar outside Egypt". IGO officials ordered on 30 May that Mubarak's older son Alaa also be remanded into custody for 15 days pending investigation of his wealth. A report prepared by the Administrative Control Agency (ACA) stated that Alaa Mubarak's personal bank deposits are estimated at LE220 million, a figure that excludes extensive and valuable property holdings. The report claimed "Alaa Mubarak conspired with former housing minister Ahmed El-Maghrabi to earn LE40 million in a single week from speculating on the shares of Palm Hills Real Estate Company on Cairo's stock exchange". The report also revealed that he had collected LE120 million from oil-rich Arab Gulf countries in the form of donations for a charity organisation named after his dead son Mohamed and raised questions how the donations had been solicited and then spent. IGO officials also called Gamal Mubarak for questioning on the same day as his brother. Former president Mubarak's younger son is accused of peddling influence to amass a vast fortune. Media reports estimate Gamal Mubarak's personal worth at $180 million, the bulk of the sum made from his private business deals on stock markets in Egypt and in the UK, Cyprus, Greece and Switzerland. Gamal Mubarak has vowed to provide all the documents necessary to show his wealth was secured from legitimate sources. IGO officials also ordered that former prime minister Ahmed Nazif be remanded into custody for 15 days. IGO officials have estimated Nazif's personal wealth at LE150 million, a figure that does not include extensive property holding registered in the name of his wife and children.
