850 killed in uprising, Mubarak ordered firing: Panel

Cairo, April 20: The noose around Egypt's ousted ailing President Hosni Mubarak appeared to be tightening with a government fact finding mission, in damning strictures holding him responsible for use of live ammunition to break up three week long popular uprising in which it said 850 people were killed.

The report by a panel of judges today said the police forces fired directly at the protesters aiming for "head and chest" and later armoured vehicles were ordered to run them over and the authorisation for this brutal use of force could be traced ultimately to Mubarak himself.

The report made public put the death toll in the three week long uprising that toppled long serving Mubarak and electrified the region at least 850, more than twice that of previous official estimates banded about by Mubarak associates.

With the judges pointing an accusing finger at Mubarak himself, the toppled President, currently in detention in a military hospital after complaints of heart trouble could face execution or life in jail according to the state media.

Zakaria Shalash, head of the Cairo's Appeal's Court was quoted by official al-Ahram newspaper as saying that Mubarak may face execution after a trial, if he is found guilty of ordering killings of protesters during the January popular uprising.

The judge said, that such a trial could be last upto a year. Mubarak and his two sons are facing investigations on charges of corruption and abuse of power.

PTI