Deposed president Hosni Mubarak will be transferred to a specially-prepared room at Tora Prison "very soon". The decision was announced by the Egyptian Parliament's Defence and National Security Committee (DNSC) following discussions with the Interior Ministry. Speaking on behalf of the DNSC, Dr. Farid Ismail said that arrangements will be made for the ex-president as well as for his co-accused who will be distributed around a number of prisons in Egypt. A medical committee made up of senior doctors and advisers will be consulted about Mubarak's health.

In a press statement issued by the DNSC, Dr. Ismail said that the plenary session of Egypt's People's Assembly will discuss this issue and take a binding decision by Monday 6 February. He pointed out that the prisoners will be treated in exactly the same way as others being held behind bars, which means that they will not have access to mobile telephones and computers, and they will be monitored closely throughout their stay in prison.

It was disclosed that some of the detained ex-ministers and National Party officials had been found with mobile telephones and SIM cards, which prisoners are forbidden to have. The DNSC has given the Ministry of the Interior 24 hours to distribute Mubarak's henchmen around the unnamed prisons and transfer Mubarak himself to Tora.

The new government in Cairo intends to restructure the Ministry of the Interior so that loyal and honest civil servants are retained, but undesirable elements are removed. A draft law has been prepared to this effect for consideration by the Assembly.