Omar Suleiman Testifies in Mubarak Trial

Egypt's ex-intelligence chief Omar Suleiman testified on Tuesday in the trial of former president Hosni Mubarak who faces charges of involvement in the killings of protesters, state television said.

There were no further details about the testimony which was held behind closed doors.

Trial judge Ahmed Refaat, at a September 7 hearing, ordered that Suleiman's testimony and those of two senior military officials be held behind closed doors for reasons of "national security."

Earlier television footage of the first two sessions of the trial which opened August 3 showed the ailing 83-year-old Mubarak, who faces charges of involvement in the killings of protesters and corruption, lying on a stretcher and in a cage in the courtroom.

The charges against Mubarak, who has pleaded not guilty, follow months of protests demanding justice for the roughly 850 people killed during the revolt which ended his regime.

The trial is being held in a police academy once named after Mubarak on Cairo's outskirts.

Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Egypt's military ruler, was due to take the witness stand on Sunday and chief of the general staff, Sami Anan, was to testify on Monday.

But their testimonies were postponed to September 24 for Tantawi and September 25 for Anan, judicial sources said.

Tantawi, who is the de facto head of state since the fall of Mubarak to a popular uprising in February, faced a last minute difficulty which made him unavailable to testify as scheduled on Sunday, the sources said.

Tantawi is one of the highest profile witnesses called to testify at Mubarak's trial, which has grabbed widespread regional attention.