Egyptians await trial of ousted leader Mubarak

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian security authorities have received notice to move Hosni Mubarak to Cairo for trial, Al Arabiya television said on Tuesday, but a senior security source denied this, compounding fevered speculation about whether the ousted leader will attend.

Mubarak, 83, has been hospitalised in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh since April when he was first questioned. His trial is scheduled for Wednesday.

Many Egyptians see his illness as a ruse so the army can avoid publicly humiliating their former commander, who has been charged with conspiring to kill protesters and other crimes.

Al Arabiya, which cited its reporter, said the notice about moving the ousted president was issued to authorities in South Sinai, which is responsible for the Sharm el-Sheikh area. But a senior South Sinai security source denied this to Reuters.

Later, however, an airport source in Sharm el-Sheikh said a notice was circulating saying Mubarak would be flown from there to Cairo between 6 a.m. and 7.30 a.m. Wednesday morning.

A security source said that Mubarak would be moved by helicopter if he is taken to Cairo.

The health minister has said the former president is well enough to be moved. A source at the hospital said staff were on standby to transfer him early on Wednesday but could not confirm if a decision had been taken to do so.

Demonstrators are likely to be enraged if Mubarak does not appear in the court that has been set up in a Police Academy complex where he addressed the nation two days before protests against his rule erupted on January 25. He quit 18 days later.

A large cage has been set up in a hall in the Police Academy where the trial will proceed. Defendants in Egyptian criminal trials are put behind bars during court sessions.

"I really hope he will come to court and stand trial. This man has done a lot of bad things to his people and there is no excuse for him to do so, but whether he will get convicted or not, I really do not think I will live to see this day," said Mary Gerges, 23, speaking in Cairo on her way to work.

CONSPIRING

"I think the man is so guilty and I don't know how he cannot have been aware of all the bad things that were happening when he was in power. He was the president and was in charge of everything," said Saleh Abdel Aziz, 52, owner of a shop store in Abdel Aziz street in downtown Cairo.

He will stand trial with his two sons, Alaa and Gamal, as well as former Interior Minister Habib al-Adli and six other senior officers. A business executive included in the trial will be tried in absentia.

Charges range from conspiring to kill protesters to abuse of power to amass wealth.

One lawyer representing 16 of the roughly 850 people killed in the 18-day uprising, Gamal Eid, said he and some other lawyers representing victims had not been given permits to attend the trial.

"We have asked to view Mubarak's file and investigations conducting him and until now we have not been allowed to do that and for no valid reason," he said, adding that he had been allowed to see files related to the former interior minister's case which has now been merged into Mubarak's case.

"This makes us worry about the seriousness of the trial. But we will go to court tomorrow and stand outside it if we are not allowed in," he told Reuters.

The state news agency MENA said about 200 lawyers had tried to storm the office of the judge in charge of issuing the trial permits to protest that they have not been given one.

MENA said security had been stepped up at the Police Academy and surrounding area, including streets leading to the complex.

"The plan will include 20 armed vehicles and around 3,000 soldiers ... along with an armed cordon that will be put around all the entrances of the academy," the agency said.

Only those with permits issued before the trial will be allowed to enter the hall. The presiding judge said a maximum of 600 people would be allowed to attend.

The judge in charge of issuing permits said those allowed to attend were the relatives of the accused, accredited journalists and some family members of victors or other members of the public who registered before.

(Additional reporting by Marwa Awad in Sharm el-Sheikh, Sherine El Madany, Ahmed Tolba in Cairo; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Mark Heinrich)