Mubarak retrial resumes as Egypt's former army chief of staff testifies

Egypt's former president Hosni Mubarak was brought back to a Cairo criminal court, as former chief of staff of the armed forces Sami Anan will testify over charges against Mubarak, state-run Al Ahram website reported on Sunday. In a confidential session, the court will listen to Anan's testimony against Mubarak over killing protesters in the 2011 upheaval and exporting gas to Israel at lower prices than that of the international market. In Saturday hearings, Egypt's former army chief and defense minister Hussein Tantawi gave testimony in the same charges amid media blackout. Former intelligence chief Murad Muwafi and head of the national security authority and three other former security officials testified last month. All the details about the testimonies of former high ranking officials will be made public later on Sunday, said Judge Mahmoud Kamel, presiding Mubarak's retrial. All the hearings were held in closed-door sessions for security reasons. Both Tantawi, who headed the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces that took power after Mubarak's fall, and Anan's testimonies are assumed to answer question whether Mubarak ordered the use of lethal force against peaceful protesters. Mubarak is now kept under home arrest in Maadi Military Hospital in southern Cairo, after he was released from jail in August in case related to squandering public money. His home arrest period expired, but Mubarak chose to stay in hospital to avoid more unrest in the country.