Politics

Egypt Court to deliver Mubarak trial verdict on June 2nd

The judge in the trial of Egypt's former President Hosni Mubarak has said he will deliver his verdict on 2 June. On the final day of six months of hearings, Mr. Mubarak turned down the chance to address the court. His former interior minister, who is also on trial, blamed "foreigners" for the deaths of protesters last February. The two men deny ordering the killing of protesters during the uprising that forced the former dictator to step down after three decades in power. The former Interior Minister, Habib al-Adly, addressed the court for an hour and a half during the final hearing on Wednesday, according to Egyptian state media. Mr. Mubarak told the judge he had no comment. "What the lawyer said is enough," he said, according to Associated Press news agency. Both men could face the death penalty if convicted, along with six senior police officers, who are co-defendants. Mr. Mubarak's two sons - one-time heir apparent Gamal, and Alaa - are facing separate charges of corruption with their father in the same trial. The business tycoon, Hussein Salem, is also being tried in absentia. All the defendants have denied the charges. The former dictator has been held in a military hospital since the trial began last year. Prosecutors told the court at Wednesday's hearing that the medical wing of Cairo's Tura prison was now ready to receive Mr. Mubarak, according to Agence France-Presse news agency. The BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo says Mr. Mubarak's trial has never really lived up to its opening moment of drama in August, when the 83-year-old was wheeled into court on a stretcher, despite claims that he was too ill to appear. In his closing remarks on Monday, chief prosecutor Mustafa Suleiman said of the trial: "This is not a case about the killing of one or 10 or 20 civilians, but a case of an entire nation." He told the court earlier that it was impossible that Mr. Mubarak had not ordered police to open fire on protesters, leaving more than 800 dead. The prosecution says it has taken testimony from 2,000 witnesses, including police officers who discussed orders from above to arm police with automatic rifles and shotguns to use against protesters. Our correspondent says that though most observers believe the trial has been conducted relatively fairly, the prosecution maintains that it has been denied access to some of the most important evidence. The court has not heard logs of calls from the interior ministry in the crucial hours when many of the protesters were killed, prosecutors say, and many key insiders have not given evidence while others have only appeared behind closed doors. Defense lawyer Farid al-Deeb has said that the Egyptian army was in charge of security when protesters were killed. He said Mr. Mubarak had imposed a curfew on the afternoon of 28 January and transferred responsibility to the head of the army. The police or interior ministry could therefore not have been ordered to open fire on demonstrations, he argued. But Mr. Deeb did not accuse the army of ordering the killings. He said it had denied ever firing on protesters, and that he believed the army "because it does not lie". The judge reportedly has to review about 40,000 pages of documents before delivering his verdict. Source: BBC

Yemen to swear in new president Saturday

Yemen will swear in its new president Saturday, cementing a power transfer deal reached in November to end months of protests and violence over outgoing leader Ali Abdullah Saleh's longtime rule. Vice President Abdurabu Mansur Hadi, who became acting president in November in an agreement brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council, is expected to be sworn in Saturday in front of Yemen's parliament. On Monday, a formal inauguration will take place in Sana'a -- one that Saleh, who left the United States Thursday, is expected to attend. "As of Saturday morning, Hadi will be Yemen's president and the inauguration on Monday will only be ceremonial and a celebration in support for Yemen's new leader," said Abdul Aziz Jubari, a member of Yemen's parliament from Saleh's General People's Congress party. While final election results have yet to be announced, Hadi was the only candidate on Tuesday's ballot. A vote tally from the election is expected to be released before the ceremony, said Khaled Al-Qadhi, head of elections operations. Saleh was on his way to Yemen from the United States, where he had been receiving medical treatment, and will attend the inauguration Monday, said Abdu Ganadi, a senior Saleh aide. Saleh was wounded in a June assassination attempt at his presidential palace during battles between government troops and tribal fighters. A "massive celebration" was being planned for Saleh, who will not necessarily disappear from Yemeni politics, Ganadi said. "Saleh has the option to continue involvement in politics and the power transfer deal will not force him to step aside," Ganadi said. "He is the leader of the GPC and his voice and support will continue being heard in the GPC." U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the Yemeni election "another important step forward in their democratic transition process." Human Rights Watch has called on Hadi to make changes without delay. "Yemen's potentially historic transition will be off to shaky start unless Hadi makes an immediate break with the abuses of the past," said Letta Tayler, HRW's Yemen researcher. "Yemen's new leader needs to move decisively to usher in promised reforms that uphold human rights and the rule of law." The 65-year-old Hadi is a British-, Egyptian- and Soviet-trained army officer, recently promoted to field marshal. He had been vice president since 1994 and ran for a two-year term as president on pledges of improving security and creating jobs. But he's never had much of a power base, and Yemen's problems are expected to take longer than two years to fix. Yemen is the poorest country in the Middle East, with a severe shortage of water and rising levels of malnutrition among its population of about 25 million. Saleh faced a separatist movement in the south, sectarian tensions in the north and the growing presence of what Western officials describe as al Qaeda's most dangerous affiliate, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Source: CNN

Yemen's Saleh departs the United States

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh left the United States on Thursday, flying from Boston's Logan International Airport to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, a Yemeni official told CNN. Saleh was in the United States for medical treatment for wounds suffered in a June assassination attempt at his presidential palace during battles between government troops and tribal fighters. Saleh was expected to return to Yemen in time for the inauguration of the next president once a date for that is determined, the official said. Voters in Yemen went to the polls Tuesday to replace Saleh, who led the country for 33 years. The only person on the ballot was Vice President Abdurabu Mansur Hadi, who became acting president in November as the result of a power transfer brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council after months of protests. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the election "another important step forward in their democratic transition process." Human Rights Watch has called on Hadi to make changes without delay. "Yemen's potentially historic transition will be off to shaky start unless Hadi makes an immediate break with the abuses of the past," said Letta Tayler, HRW's Yemen researcher. "Yemen's new leader needs to move decisively to usher in promised reforms that uphold human rights and the rule of law." The 65-year-old Hadi is a British-, Egyptian- and Soviet-trained army officer, recently promoted to field marshal. He had been vice president since 1994 and ran for a two-year term as president on pledges of improving security and creating jobs. But he's never had much of a power base, and Yemen's problems are expected to take longer than two years to fix. Yemen is the poorest country in the Middle East, with a severe shortage of water and rising levels of malnutrition among its population of about 25 million. Saleh faced a separatist movement in the south, sectarian tensions in its north and the growing presence of what Western officials describe as al Qaeda's most dangerous affiliate, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Source: CNN