CAIRO: Hosni Mubarak was ordered Tuesday to stand trial for the killing of protesters and could face the death penalty, scotching speculation the former leader may be spared public humiliation by Egypt’s military rulers.
Mubarak, ousted on Feb. 11 after mass demonstrations demanding he end his 30 years in power, has been questioned for his role in a crackdown that led to the killing of more than 800 demonstrators and has been probed over corruption.

The public prosecutor said Mubarak, who is detained in a hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, would be tried on charges including “pre-meditated killing,” which could be punished by the death penalty.
Mubarak’s two sons Alaa and Gamal, whom many had believed was being groomed for office, were also referred to the criminal court on the same charges, the prosecutor said.

The decision was announced days before another planned demonstration in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the heart of the uprising. Activists had called for a big turnout Friday to demand faster reforms and a public trial for Mubarak and others.
“Every time the youth threaten to go to Tahrir Square again with a huge number of protesters, I think they make some concessions,” said Hassan Nafaa, a political scientist at Cairo University, who said the protesters would still rally.

On Facebook, Mahmoud Dahab wrote: “Mubarak has been referred to trial because Friday is approaching. We understand this game already.”
The crimes listed by the prosecutor included “intentional murder, attempted killing of some demonstrators … misuse of influence and deliberately wasting public funds and unlawfully making private financial gains and profits,” the statement said.
It said Mubarak was accused of “participating with Habib al-Adli, the former interior minister and some police authorities … in committing pre-meditated murder of some of the participants of peaceful protests across the country.”

Judge Ahmad Mekky, the deputy head of Egypt’s appeal court, told Reuters the prosecution could request the death penalty.
“A lot of the regimes – Syria, Libya, and even Yemen – are looking carefully at the example of Tunisia and Egypt to see what has happened,” said analyst Sara Hassan.

“They wouldn’t like to see themselves face a similar fate to that of the Mubarak family,” she added. “I think they will be more intent on hanging on, despite the costs.”
“The verdict is a good thing but it came late. We would have liked it better if it came earlier. We should not be forced to call for big protests in order for the army council to listen to our demands and act,” said Mohammad Adel, member of April 6 Youth Movement, which helped rally protesters.

“Mubarak is not a symbol for Egypt and he is not the father of Egyptians. He is an employee and he betrayed the trust he was given, he sold out the country, he is the reason behind the killing and the arrest of millions of Egyptians,” said Mohammad Elm on Facebook.
Separately, Gamaa al-Islamiya, an Egyptian Islamist group that took up arms against the state in the 1980s and 1990s wants to form a political party and contest the country’s first free elections in decades, one of its senior members said Tuesday.
Gamaa al-Islamiya was outlawed under Mubarak.

A senior member of the group, Tarek al-Zumar, said they were launching plans for a “civil political party based on Islamic principles” that would even welcome members of Egypt’s Christian minority.
“The party will not use violence in dealing with any situation or with the state and will abide by Egyptian law and the Constitution,” said Zumar, who expects to be a member of the party’s policy unit.

Zumar and his cousin Abboud were involved in the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1981.
Zumar said his party would not field a candidate in the presidential race, due before the end of this year.