Scuffles disrupt Mubarak trial as police testify

Police officers testifying at the trial of Hosni Mubarak said on Monday they were not aware of orders to shoot at protesters, as scuffles erupted inside and outside the courtroom between supporters and opponents of the ousted Egyptian president.

Mubarak, 83, is charged with conspiring to kill protesters and "inciting" some officers to use live ammunition, in the first trial of an Arab leader in person since street unrest erupted across the Middle East early this year.

Protesters outside the Cairo court scuffled with police and voiced anger at the pace of the trial, which met for a third session on Monday after the first hearing on August 3. "Prosecution, prosecution, we don't want delays," they chanted.

Many Egyptians say police used tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition against protesters in Cairo and other cities. About 850 people died in the 18-day uprising that ousted Mubarak on February 11.

Mubarak, hospitalized since April, was flown to the court by helicopter and wheeled on a gurney into a metal defendants' cage for the first session to hear witnesses.

Egyptians were riveted by images of Mubarak behind bars in the first two sessions. But the Judge Ahmed Refaat barred cameras from the trial after the last session on August 15. The next session will take place on September 7, state television reported.

"In my 30 years of experience with state security, I have not heard of any incident where an order was given to use live ammunition against protesters," General Hussein Saeed Mohamed Moussa, head of communication at the Interior Ministry, told the court.

Moussa, who was initially identified by state television as Mursi, said police were given guns and live ammunition to protect the Interior Ministry and prisons from attack.

Moussa, who was in the police operations room during the uprising, said he believed the decision to hand out live ammunition was made by a senior officer, Ahmed Ramzi, who is one of defendants.

Mubarak is standing trial alongside his two sons, Gamal and Alaa, former Interior Minister Habib al-Adli and six senior officers, including Ramzi.

Asked if there were orders to fire live ammunition at the Interior Ministry site, Moussa said there were "very clear" orders to protect the ministry. He added that weapons were ferried by ambulances as police vehicles were targeted.