Hosni Mubarak Live Blog

Egypt through the eyes of a postman - With an intimate knowledge of our neighbourhoods, postmen and women are often the first to notice the changes occurring on the streets.

Egyptian Ashraf Zareef Ibrahim has been delivering mail in downtown Cairo for more than half his life.

He continued to do so every day during the protests that shook up his country for the first time in decades.

He tells his story, in his own words.

Egypt's military ruler and Hosni Mubarak's former confidant testified Saturday in a rare high-profile appearance at the trial of the ousted president charged with complicity in the killings of protesters during the crackdown on Egypt's uprising.

Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi arrived under military escort on Saturday morning at the heavily guarded courtroom in Cairo for the nearly hour-long testimony, which is under a complete media blackout. Mubarak was present in the courtroom during Tantawi's testimony, lying on a gurney inside the defendants' cage.

Tantawi, who was defense minister for two decades, could provide critical insight into Mubarak's alleged role in the deaths of nearly 840 protesters as well as insider revelations about the former regime's final days. - Associated Press

Egypt's military ruler, Field Marshall Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, said he could not give testimony on Sunday in the trial of Hosni Mubarak because he had to deal with security issues in the country.

The report followed a weekend of violence that erupted on Friday and continued through the night targeting the Israeli embassy in Cairo, prompting Israel to evacuate its ambassador.

Tantawi was called to give testimony on Sunday in the trial of Mubarak, whose charges include conspiring to kill protesters during the uprising that ousted him on February 11.

Scuffles have broken out between protesters and police officers outside the trial of Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's ousted president, as the court prepares to hear from police witnesses who were in the operation room during the crackdown on pro-democracy demonstraters.

Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros, reporting from Cairo, said more police had been deployed than the previous two sessions.

"Some of the people gathered outside the court room have started throwing rocks at the riot police," she said.

"This is something we saw in the last two sessions as well, where there was rock throwing at each other by pro and anti Mubarak protesters. Now it seems to be concentrated at the riot police. It is indicative of the kind of emotions this trial is evoking."