Egypt's military ruler summoned in Mubarak trial

The chief judge in the trial of ousted president Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday summoned high-profile witnesses including Egypt's military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi to testify. Judge Ahmed Refaat said that Tantawi and other top officials, some of them still serving, would give their evidence behind closed doors for reasons of "national security." He said Tantawi would testify on Sunday followed by the chief of the general staff, Sami Anan, on Monday and former intelligence chief and vice president General Omar Suleiman on Tuesday. Interior Minister Mansur al-Essawi and a predecessor, Mahmud Wagdi, will give evidence on September 14 and 15 respectively, he added. Journalists will not be allowed in the courtroom, said the judge, who also imposed a gag order on the star witnesses' testimony. The latest hearing was the fourth in the trial which opened on August 3 and, unlike the first two sessions, the proceedings were again not televised.