Mubarak trial adjourns to Wednesday

CAIRO: The trial of Hosni Mubarak adjourned to Wednesday after several witnesses testified for the first time in the trial of the ousted president, an AFP correspondent said.

Monday's session -- the third since the trial opened on August 3 -- heard one witness point a finger of blame at the chief of anti-riot forces for dozens of deaths in Egypt's revolution, while foes and backers of Mubarak clashed outside the courtroom and lawyers bickered inside.

The court said the next hearing will be held on Wednesday after four police officers took the witness stand, including Hussein Saeed Mursi who headed the anti-riot police's communications department at the time of the uprising.

Mursi singled out General Ahmed Ramzi, head of anti-riot forces, as having given "clear instructions to protect the interior ministry and deal with the demonstrators with automatic weapons."

Ramzi is one of the accused in the trial along with Mubarak, former interior minister Habib al-Adly and other police officials, while the ex-president's two sons Alaa and Gamal are being tried on graft charges, as well as their father.

The court is trying to determine whether orders for police to fire on crowds were given solely by the interior ministry or if Mubarak was also implicated.

Mubarak could face the death penalty if found guilty of involvement in the killings.

More than 850 people were killed in the revolt which led to Mubarak's ouster after three decades in power and thousands more were wounded, according to official figures.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011