New trial for Egypt's Mubarak set for May 11

A retrial of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak over his role in the deaths of protesters in 2011 is to open on May 11, judicial sources told AFP on Wednesday. The decision comes as Egypt's public prosecutor ordered the former president back to Tora prison from a Cairo military hospital after his health was deemed stable. Mubarak, 84, was being treated for a heart condition, fractured ribs, fluid in the lungs, depression and high blood pressure, according to his lawyers and official accounts. But he stunned many Egyptians when he appeared last Saturday at the opening hearing of his retrial, looking strong, defiant and waving at supporters. The retrial was meant to begin on April 13, but Judge Mostafa Hassan Abdallah recused himself in an opening session that lasted just seconds and sent the case to the Court of Appeal to choose a new circuit. In October, the same judge had acquitted defendants in the infamous "Battle of the Camels" trial, accused of sending men on camels and horses to break up a protest during the 2011 uprising that toppled Mubarak. Mubarak, his former interior minister Habib al-Adly and six security chiefs are charged with complicity in the murder and attempted murder of hundreds of peaceful protesters on January 25-31, 2011. Mubarak's sons, Alaa and Gamal, will face corruption charges along with their father and fugitive businessman Hussein Salem. The new trial will be presided over by Judge Mahmud al-Rashidi at the North Cairo Criminal Court, the sources said.