• Judge bans TV broadcasting from the court
• Read a summary of today's key events
Posted by Haroon Siddique and Paul Owen
Monday 15 August 2011 07.40 BST
guardian.co.uk
Hosni Mubarak on trial in Cairo today. Photograph: AP
1.14pm: Here is a lunchtime summary.
Egypt
• Former dictator Hosni Mubarak appeared in court again charged with corruption and the unlawful killing of protesters amid somewhat chaotic scenes. His trial was postponed until 5 September and the televising of proceedings was banned by the judge (see 12.33pm). There were scuffles between pro- and anti-Mubarak activists outside the courtroom again.
• A new alliance of liberal parties called the Egyptian Bloc was launched in Cairo to run in the upcoming parliamentary elections (see 12.41pm).
Syria
• The western port city of Latakia is under attack from government forces for the third day (see 12.34pm). Activists say troops are calling for residents to leave their homes; residents are worried the security forces will then destroy the houses. Many people are trying to flee the city, with some being arrested as they do so (see 10.58am). Twenty-five people were reportedly killed in Latakia as gunboats attacked the city yesterday. Gunfire has also been reported in al-Hawla, close to Homs.
al-Hawla, close to Homs.
Libya
• Reports claim the Libyan interior minister, Nassr al-Mabrouk Abdullah, has arrived in Cairo with members of his family, apparently as a tourist, although defection is suspected (see 12.43pm).
• Muammar Gaddafi spoke out on state TV, although with audio only, to urge his people to "liberate Libya" from Nato (see 12.27pm), as reports claimed his government was holding talks in Tunisia with the rebels, who seem to be making a fair degree of progress, having captured the key town of Zawiya, which is only half an hour's drive from Tripoli.
Tunisia
• Security forces used tear gas and truncheons to disperse a crowd of protesters in the capital today who were demanding that the government step down. The caretaker authorities running the country since Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was ousted in January have struggled to restore stability with protests and strikes breaking out regularly.
Yemen
• A prominent opposition leader is the main suspect in the attempt to assassinate Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh, a member of the ruling party said in comments published today. Saleh has been in Saudi Arabia receiving medical treatment since the attack in June. He said last week he would cooperate with Yemen's opposition and international powers to revive a plan to ease him from office brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council, a bloc of Yemen's wealthier Gulf neighbours. His renewed interest in the plan, which he previously agreed to only to back out three times, followed prodding from US envoys to hand over power.
12.43pm: Egyptian airport officials say the Libyan interior minister has arrived in Cairo with family members, the Associated Press news agency reports.
The officials say the minister, Nassr al-Mabrouk Abdullah, landed just before midday on Monday at Cairo international airport, with nine members of his family. They say he arrived on a special plane from Tunisia and told Egyptian officials that he was "on a tourist visit".
The secrecy surrounding the arrival and the fact that no official from the Libyan embassy, which is loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, was at the airport to greet Abdullah, have raised suspicions of a possible defection.
12.41pm: Also in Egypt today, a press conference is being held announcing the creation of a coalition of parties under the name of "the Egyptian Bloc" (Al Kotla Al Masreyya), writes Mohamed El Dahshan from Cairo.
The bloc is composed of a number of liberal parties, including the Egyptian Social Democratic party, the Democratic Front, the Progressive Group, the Popular Coalition, Egypt Freedom, the Egyptian Participation, the Justice party, the Egyptian communist party, the National council, as well as the Soufi Tahrir party, a farmers' syndicate, and the new independent workers' syndicate as observers.
The bloc has affirmed its plans to run for parliamentary elections and called for a civil state, the rule of law, and the end of military trials for civilians.
That this press conference (or its beginning at least, as it is still ongoing) is being held at the same time as the biggest (and most televised) event in Egypt today could reflect poor judgment - but it could also signal a deliberate refusal to get bogged down in a trial that represents the past, preferring instead to look forward, to the next main step - the parliamentary elections.
12.34pm: Nour Ali sends more on the situation in Syria today. Activists say government forces are calling by loudspeakers for residents in the besieged Latakia neighbourhoods to leave their houses.
People fear the security forces will then crush their homes, an activist from Latakia told the Guardian, although it was unclear for what purpose other than to terrorise protesters into submission. In acts likely to enrage the local communities, eyewitnesses told the Local Co-ordination Committees, which organise and report on protests in Syria, that some mosque minarets have been shot at, while al-Arabiya is reporting that a cleric was killed on his way to a mosque in the city. Meanwhile, Syrian TV is reported to be in al-Ramel neighbourhood filming the army, which it claims arrived to protect the people from armed gangs
View Middle East Live blog locations in a larger map
Here is a map showing where exactly Latakia is in Syria, and other key Syrian locations.
12.33pm: Mohamed El Dahshan sends more from Cairo. He says that after two hours of deliberations, judge Ahmed Refaat and the councillors returned to list 10 decisions, the most important of which were:
• To combine the two main cases in which Mubarak is accused, which are (a) graft and corruption and (b) murder of protesters.
• To postpone the trial until 5 September.
• To stop the televised transmission of the trials – "to protect the integrity of the proceedings" in the judge's words.
Other decisions related to giving lawyers the access they requested to documents, evidence, and various investigations conducted. Mubarak's defence team will also be given access to the logs of ambulances that transported the injured and the dead between 25 and 31 January.
Lawyers applauded the judge's decision to end the broadcasting of the trial. While I am told that it is illegal for witnesses to listen to other witnesses' testimonies, the judge's decision was not limited to witness testimonies but pertained to all proceedings.
12.27pm: Here is a video of a crowd in Libya listening to Muammar Gaddafi's speech, with subtitles.
12.24pm: Gamal Mubarak was captured on camera smiling and waving as he left the courtroom.
12.04pm: The judge has announced that Mubarak's case is to be adjourned until 5 September.
This is interesting: Refaat also said there would be no more live television broadcasts of the proceedings for the sake of the public interest. There was applause from some sections of the court but evident discord from other people in the courtroom.
11.59am: The trial of Mubarak and his two sons has resumed.
Judge Ahmed Refaat says the case of Mubarak must be heard alongside that of the former interior minister Habib el-Adly. This wins the judge around of applause.
11.39am: Mohamed El Dahshan writes with more from Cairo.
The civil claims lawyers have been fighting among themselves in the courtroom; the verbal arguments reportedly led to some pushing and shoving.
Whereas in the first session of the Mubarak trial, on 3 August, lawyers had to be accredited by the ministry of justice to attend, today lawyers have been admitted on production of their lawyers' syndicate card.
The performance of the civil claims lawyers in the previous session had been criticised for being erratic and weak. Meetings in the past days have failed to designate a single speaker on behalf of the 100+ lawyers.
Attorney Gamal Eid, director of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), says that "squabbling is actually normal, even if it looks shocking for people watching it on television for the first time. There's a large number of lawyers on behalf of the victims, as well as lawyers unrelated to the victims. There's nothing unexpected".
11.36am: My colleagues on the video desk send this video of scuffles outside the Cairo court where Hosni Mubarak is being tried and the arrival of the former Egyptian president.
_
11.35am: It looks like the Mubarak trial is about to restart. The former Egyptian dictator and his sons are back in the cage which serves as the dock in the Cairo courtroom.
10.58am: Nour Ali (a pseudonym) writes with an update on the situation in Syria. As mentioned at 9.36am, the military is continuing its assault on the coastal city of Latakia for a third day as activists report gunfire in several areas including the southern district of al-Ramel, which was the focus of the crackdown yesterday.
Residents are crying "God is Great" - used as a sign of protest and resistance across the country - amid the sounds of heavy gunfire, activists say. Many people, especially women and children are reportedly trying to flee, with some being arrested as they do. Gunfire is also reported in al-Hawla, also spelled Houla, close to Homs, where several people were killed last week.
The regime has denied navy ships fired at Latakia yesterday, military action widely being read as an escalation of the government's crackdown. The state media agency Sana has issued its own narrative of events, reporting that two law enforcement officials were killed and 41 injured while chasing "armed men" - a repeat of oft-aired claims it is fighting unidentified gunmen and Islamists. The report claims almost the same facts as the activists, but suggests armed gangs rather than their own forces are responsible.
Latakia is the third city, after Hama and Deir Ezzor, to be attacked in a rapidly escalating crackdown in the first fortnight of Ramadan. The crackdown has caused widespread revulsion, with Palestinians taking to the streets in Ramallah yesterday to protest against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
But the increased brutality amid the apparent backtracking of Ankara and Washington's positions has sparked fears and frustration among some protesters and activists. Barack Obama has still not called for Assad to step down as diplomatic leaks suggested he was on the brink of doing for the past 10 days. Protesters have started to criticise Turkey - usually much admired by Syrians - for being largely silent since a meeting between foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Assad in Damascus last week, in which it is reported Turkey agreed to give the Syrian regime 15 days to end the crackdown and start to implement reforms.
10.17am: Mohamed El Dahshan has sent this summary of today's court proceedings so far in Egypt, where Hosni Mubarak is back in court:
The judge sent the lawyers representing plaintiffs in the civil cases back to their seats, saying: "Wait in your seats. I have lists with your names and there are over 100 persons on them, which is far beyond the capacity of any court. We will not resume to trial until you are quiet and respect order. Sit, mister! Sit!"
The judge then opened evidence seals and described the contents. They were:
• An envelope containing a CD with documents relating to the case.
• An envelope containing four DVDs with documents relating to the case.
• An envelope containing a USB stick with documents relating to the case.
Mubarak's lawyer Farid el-Deeb submitted new written requests to the judge for documents, minutes of meetings, and the detailed logs from ambulances that took the injured to hospitals or morgues from 25 January to 30 January 2011. He then requested adjournment of the trial until he has the time to review all the documents he requested.
Meanwhile, people outside the courtroom are accusing the security forces of chasing the anti-Mubarak protesters exclusively.
10.09am: Mubarak's lawyer Farid el-Deeb has asked for a postponement of the case until all documents are reviewed.
The court has gone into recess for deliberation.
10.04am: The judge has gone through evidence consisting of a CD, DVDs, and flash memory card.
He has said to the lawyers that all their demands will be answered. He wants them to put in written requests (rather than making them verbally) to expedite the trial.
Judge Ahmed Refaat says the court had wished to convene daily hearings but the behaviour of the lawyers has made it impossible. He pleads:
Please give us an opportunity to discharge this duty.
9.56am: Meanwhile outside the Egyptian courtroom there is more trouble between supporters and opponents of Mubarak.
Hannah Allam, from McClatchy newspapers, tweeted:
ok i'm outta here, stones too close and stampede concerns. Man w/severe head wound just taken away
was caught on pro side when stones started raining down. before ppl helped me run, they'd ask, are you pro or anti? #mubaraktrial
someone ripped up a mubarak poster and hopped up and down on his face. This crowd wants a fight, barely watching trial
9.52am: The judge at Mubarak's trial is urging all the lawyers to take to their seats. He says the trial will not proceed unless there is calm and the lawyers take their seats. Ahmed Refaat seems to be losing his patience with the chaotic scenes in the courtroom. You may remember that at the last hearing lawyers took turns in grabbing the microphone to make rambling speeches. Refaat says:
It is intolerable; more than 100 lawyers listed here.
9.47am: Mohamed El Dahsan, reporting for the Guardian in Cairo, makes the following observations of the scene in the Egyptian courtroom
Hosni Mubarak has an intravenous needle sticking out of his left hand.
The former Egyptian dictator is not wearing the regulation white uniform of accused prisoners.
Gamal and Alaa Mubarak are wearing the white uniform, holding Qur'ans and attempting to shield their father from cameras, as they did on the first session.
There is a lot of noise in the courtroom. The lawyers for the victims' families are squabbling.
9.42am: Judge Ahmed Refaat has entered the courtroom in Cairo. He begins by asking the defendants to confirm their presence, including the Mubaraks, all three of whom answer: "I am present."
9.36am: A quick update from Syria, while we wait for proceedings to begin at at the Mubarak trial in Egypt. Activists and residents are reporting a fresh outbreak of heavy gunfire in parts of the Syrian port city of Latakia, where military operations are now in their third day, the Associated Press reports:
The activists say loud explosions and gunfire have been heard throughout the night and early Monday in Latakia's al-Ramel district and nearby areas as residents continue to flee.
Activist groups said that at least 25 people died in operations in the Mediterranean city on Sunday when gunboats joined ground troops to crush the uprising against Bashar Assad's regime.
Activists on Monday also say troops backed by tanks entered the town of Houla, near flashpoint central city of Homs. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the military is carrying out raids and arrests there.
Al Jazeera's Nisreen El-Shamayleh, reporting from Ramtha on the Syria-Jordan border, also has details of the assault on Latakia:
We understand from the local coordinating committee that around 6am local time [4am BST] some women and children in the al-Ramel neighborhood were trying to flee to the nearby neighborhood of al Tamra.
Syrian forces verbally allowed them to pass through, but then opened fire on the families. One man was killed and several women and children were injured. We also understand additional military reinforcement has been deployed around al-Ramel neighbourhood, which is forcing many residents to try to free.
Hosni Mubarak in court today. Photograph: Al-Jazeera Arabic screengrab
9.23am: The court is now in session. Mubarak has been wheeled into the cage which serves as the dock in Egyptian courts. His sons Gamal and Alaa are also in the dock.
9.13am: The former Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak has just been wheeled into court on a hospital trolley.
9.10am: Al-Jazeera's Evan Hill just tweeted this, suggesting the arrival of the former Egyptian president is imminent:
Mubarak's heavily guarded ambulance appears to be approaching the court house for day two of #mubaraktrial.
9.00am: Mohamed El Dahshan, reporting from Cairo for the Guardian, says the main questions being asked in relation to the trial of the former Egyptian president are:
Will Mubarak attend? His chief lawyer, Fareed El Deeb, declared yesterday morning that he would, but that there was no guarantee a last minute "medical emergency" wouldn't prevent him.
Will he be on a stretcher as he was on 3 August?
Will he be speaking or answering any potential questions from the judge?
A section of the courtroom (itself a university lecture hall) has been partitioned off for Mubarak's family. Right now there are policemen in plain clothes sitting there, but we're waiting to see whether former first lady Suzanne Mubarak will attend.
8.46am: There are reports of clashes between supporters and opponents of Mubarak outside the courtroom with people throwing stones at each other, as they did when the former Egyptian dictator made his first appearance in court.
This picture shows people standing beside a pile of rocks.
And al-Jazeera Arabic's crew have reportedly been attacked by pro-Mubarak protesters.
Photograph: Nasser/Pool/EPA 8.38am: If Muhammad Tantawi (left), the commander-in-chief of the Egyptian armed forces and de facto acting head of state, is called as a witness in the Mubarak trial, his testimony could be key to either incriminating or exonerating the former Egyptian president, lawyers believe. Tantawi was Mubarak's defence minister. One member of the defence team, who asked not to be named, told Reuters:
Tantawi's testimony would help the court determine whether Mubarak gave orders to interior minister Habib al-Adli to fire at protesters or whether Adli was acting independently ... It is important for the court to meet the requests of the defence team, especially the request to hear the accounts of Field Marshal Tantawi in court to determine whether Mubarak asked him to confront and fire at protesters or not.
Another lawyer handling the case said:
The defence team sees Tantawi as a compurgator, or a witness whose testimony would exonerate Mubarak. The plaintiffs' lawyers, however, expect him to testify that he received orders to fire, which is necessary to convict Mubarak.
Judge Ahmed Refaat is expected to rule today on whether Tantawi should be called as a witness.
8.05am: People outside the courthouse in the Egyptian capital where Mubarak will appear are chanting, pressing for a quick trial - the former dictator's lawyers seem to be trying to stretch out the legal process by asking for some 1,600 witnesses to be called - and waving shoes in the air, says al-Jazeera's Rawya Rageh.
But she says there are also pro-Mubarak supporters with T-shirts reading:
I'm Egyptian. I refuse the humiliation of the nation's leader.
The first time Mubarak appeared in court there were running battles between people supporting the former president and anti-Mubarak factions, but this time it seems that security has been beefed up. A picture appears to show that extra efforts have been made to separate them.
7.55am: While Mubarak's trial has been a positive development for Egyptians who fear that too little has changed since the country's revolution, there was worrying news on Sunday when a prominent activist was arrested and charged with slandering and inciting violence against the country's ruling generals through social networking sites, according to lawyers.
Lawyer Ali Atef said the case of Asmaa Mahfouz, one of the faces of Egypt's revolution, was "a warning" to other activists against criticising the military. He said:
It was a terrifying [interrogation] session. When people are slapped with these charges because they expressed their opinion, this is grave. It is a warning aimed at all activists, bloggers and ordinary people.
Mahfouz was released Sunday on bail after more than four hours of interrogation. Atef said activists collected money to pay the bail and ensure her release pending trial. The incitement charges could carry a sentence of more than 10 years. A trial date is up to the discretion of the military prosecutor.
Atef said the prosecutor cited as evidence Mahfouz's writing on Facebook and Twitter and a call to a private TV station in which she accused the country's rulers of planning an attack on protesters. The lawyer said she was quoted as calling the military council as the "council of dogs".
She is accused of inciting violence by criticising on Twitter the slow procedure of trials, and warning that people may take justice into their own hands. Mahfouz tweeted on 10 August:
Bottom line, if the judiciary doesn't get us our rights, no one should be crossed if there are armed groups, who carry out assassinations, since there is no law and no judiciary. No one should be crossed.
Late on Sunday, Mahfouz appeared on a private TV station, saying the interrogation didn't scare her, but reminded her of old regime ways. She said:
The only thing I regret after this [interrogation] is that we didn't work hard enough in the streets and with the people to explain why we need to continue this revolution ... until this country gets what it deserves.
Mahfouz is a founding member of the April 6 activist group.
7.40am: Welcome to Middle East live. The toppled Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak is due back in court in Cairo this morning. We'll be providing live updates from the trial as well as covering news elsewhere in the Middle East.
Egypt
• Mubarak will be back in the dock to answer charges of corruption and the unlawful killing of protesters. The Cairo criminal court will decide whether Muhammad Tantawi, the commander-in-chief of the Egyptian forces and de facto head of state, will be called to testify in Mubarak's trial, judicial sources have told al-Masry al-Youm.
Mubarak's first appearance in court was memorable for the extraordinary images of the ousted dictator, who ruled Egypt with an iron fist for 30 years, being wheeled into court on a hospital trolley.
You can read Jack Shenker's riveting account of the first day of the trial here.
This is a link to the live blog of Mubarak's first court appearance on 3 August.
Here is a full list of defendants and the charges they face.
Syria
• Syria has used gunboats for the first time to crush the uprising against Bashar al-Assad's regime. At least 19 people were shot dead in the Syrian port city of Latakia on Sunday morning as the Assad regime's aggressive military campaign to quell protests during the holy month of Ramadan continued. Machine guns were fired from at least one ship and several armoured vehicles at the neighbourhood of Ramel, according to local residents and activists.
Libya
• Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has urged his people to "liberate Libya" from Nato, a day after rebels captured the key town of Zawiya on the road west to Tunisia, severing Tripoli's main supply route. Gaddafi's speech on Monday, delivered over a poor quality telephone line and broadcast by state television in audio only, was his first public address since rebel fighters launched their latest offensive, the biggest in months. In what state television said was a live speech, he said:
Get ready for the fight ... The blood of martyrs is fuel for the battlefield.
The capture of Zawiya enables rebels to halt food and fuel supplies from Tunisia to Gaddafi's stronghold in the capital.
• Representatives of Gaddafi's government were holding talks with rebels at a hotel on the southern Tunisian island of Djerba late on Sunday, a source with direct knowledge of the talks said - though the government spokesman denied it.
***
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