Egypt tensions spike as Mubarak given life sentence

PanARMENIAN.Net - Tensions rose in Egypt as former president Hosni Mubarak was given a life sentence for failing to stop the killing of protesters during last year's uprising - but was cleared, along with his sons, of corruption charges, Belfast Telegraph reported.

By nightfall, a large crowd of up to 10,000 had gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square, the birthplace of the uprising which led to Mubarak's removal, to vent anger over the acquittals. Similar protests began in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria and Suez on the Red Sea.

The case against Mubarak, his sons and top aides was very limited in scope, focusing only on the uprising's first few days and two narrow corruption cases.

Mubarak, 84, and his ex-security chief Habib el-Adly were both convicted of complicity in the killings of some 900 protesters and received life sentences.