Egypt to hold military funeral for deposed president Mubarak

Egypt will hold a military funeral on Wednesday for Hosny Mubarak, the country’s long-time president who was toppled during the Arab Spring protest wave, state media reported.

Mubarak, who ruled Egypt for three decades, died on Tuesday in a Cairo hospital aged 91.

The military funeral is to begin in a mosque courtyard on the outskirts of the capital, with high-ranking officials invited to attend, state television said without giving details.

Mubarak will then be laid to rest at his family’s cemetery in Cairo, according to media reports.

Egypt has announced three days of mourning for Mubarak’s death, starting on Wednesday.

Mubarak, an ex-army officer, was forced out of office in 2011 following 18 days of street protests that gripped Egypt as part of the Arab Spring revolts.

In 2017, he was acquitted of complicity in the killings of protesters in the 2011 uprising after a tortuous legal process that started months after his toppling.

Along with his two sons, Mubarak was convicted in a corruption case related to embezzling state money and served three years in prison.

Under an Egyptian law issued in 1979 for the army’s top brass, Mubarak is entitled to a military funeral for having served as the chief of the country’s air force during the 1973 war against Israel.

In a tribute to Mubarak on Tuesday, the Egyptian presidency called him “one of the commanders and heroes” of the 1973 war.

NAN