CAIRO – Egypt ordered a retrial of deposed president Hosni Mubarak Sunday after accepting an appeal against his life sentence, opening up an old wound. Mubarak, 84, was ousted in 2011 after 30 years in power and jailed for life last year over the killing of protesters by security forces trying to quell a mass street revolt. A Cairo court granted Mubarak and his former interior minister the appeal as Egypt prepares to mark the second anniversary of the uprising on Jan. 25. The retrial is likely to stir emotions and could plunge the government of new President Mohamed Morsi into dangerous waters as he tries to restore law and order and a wrecked economy. Egypt remains volatile as it prepares for a parliamentary election in the next few months. Anxiety over the economy is on the boil after protests, often violent, in late 2012 prompted citizens to snap up hard currency and take out savings. “The court has ruled to accept the appeal filed by the defendants ... and orders a retrial,” Judge Ahmed Ali Abdel Rahman said. Crowds of Mubarak supporters attending the hearing clapped and whistled as the judge read out the appeal ruling. “If Mubarak and his corrupt aides get lighter sentences this will reignite the revolution and there will be more bloodshed,” said Ahmed Abdel Ghaffour, a 33-year-old engineer in Cairo. – Reuters
