Ex-army chief to testify in Mubarak retrial

Egypt's former army chief and defence minister Hussein Tantawi appeared in Cairo Criminal Court Saturday for testimony in the retrial of former president Hosni Mubarak.

In a confidential session, the court will listen to Tantawi's testimony on charges against Mubarak over killing protesters in the 2011 upheaval and exporting gas to Israel at prices lower than those in the international market, Xinhua reported citing state-run Ahram website.

Judge Mahmoud Kamel, presiding over Mubarak's retrial, urged the media to be accurate in coverage, adding that all the details about the testimonies of high ranking former officials will be made public soon.

Former intelligence chief Murad Muwafi and head of the national security authority and three other former security officials testified last month.

All the hearings were held in closed door sessions for security reasons.

An appeal court ordered a retrial earlier this year of the 85-year-old ex-president after he was sentenced to life in prison last year for complicity in inciting violence and murdering demonstrators during the uprising against him in 2011.

The retrial also includes Mubarak's two sons, Alaa and Gamal, former interior minister Habib al-Adly and six of Al Adly's aides.

Mubarak was released from jail in August in several cases related to misuse of public funds for his own interest, but he is now under house arrest in Maadi Military Hospital in southern Cairo.

His house arrest period expired after lifting of curfew and a state of emergency imposed in mid-August following the ouster of his successor Mohamed Morsi but Mubarak chose to stay on in hospital to avoid more unrest in the country.