Mubarak, family under house arrest: Egypt military

CAIRO: Egypt's former president Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted in a mass uprising last month, is under house arrest along with his family, the ruling military informed today, rubbishing reports that the de-throned leader had fled to Saudi Arabia.

The announcement came on the official Facebook page of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and is intended to quash rumours that Mubarak had taken refuge in Saudi Arabia following in the footsteps of Tunisia's toppled leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.

"The news of the departure of former president Mohamed Hosni Mubarak to Tabuk in Saudi Arabia is not true, as he is under house arrest along with his family," read the statement as quoted by Al Ahram online.

The council, which is at the helm of affairs since Mubarak quit on February 11, announced today that Egypt will hold its first free and fair parliamentary elections in September.

The caretaker government had earlier frozen the assets of Mubarak and his family and banned them from travelling abroad.

The statement asked the Egyptian people "not to listen to malicious rumours nor circulate them," saying such allegations "only serve the enemies of the revolution and aim to spread strife and chaos in this historic moment for our beloved Egypt".

Following a mass uprising against his 30-year-rule and relentless protests for over two weeks, Mubarak stepped down as president and left Cairo for the Red Sea resort town of Sharm-al-Sheikh.

The Army, which took over the governance, promised to hold free and fair elections and before tranferring power to an elected government.

Egytpians recently voted overwhelmingly in a referendum for constitutional changes.