CAIRO: Detained Muslim Brotherhood leader Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh was admitted into Qasr Al-Aini Hospital Monday morning after he experienced difficulty breathing. The chairman of the Arab Doctors' Syndicate was transferred to a hospital upon his request, after State Security Prosecution received an official request from Torah Prison, where he was detained. According to a Brotherhood press statement, Aboul Fotouh suffers from central apnea, a disorder characterized by pauses in breathing during sleep which requires him to use a ventilator. A previous statement indicated that the high temperature in his prison cell was unsuitable for his respirator to function properly. Aboul Fotouh had previously asked to be transferred to a hospital at his own expense but his request was denied by security officials, according to the statement. Along with eight other Brotherhood members, Aboul Fotouh was detained two weeks ago and received a 15-day jail sentence pending investigations. All nine members are accused of terrorism, joining an illegal group and money laundering. Other prominent detainees include Gamal Abdel Salam, chairman of the emergency committee in the Arab Doctors' Union and former Brotherhood candidate in the 2005 parliamentary elections; Abdel Rahman Al-Gamal, an employee at the Ministry of Education in Gharbeya, Brotherhood members Reda Fahmy, Osama Soliman, Ali Al-Hadidi, Khaled Al-Sayed Beltagy, Adel Rahem Afifi and Mohamed Taha Wahdan, from Cairo, Giza, Port Said and Ismailia.
