Egypt: Prosecutor Asks Death Penalty for Mubarak

Ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak could face death penalty on allegations of complicity in the killing of protesters during last year's uprising.

A prosecutor in his trial also asked for the death sentence for Mubarak's security chief and six top police commanders.

"Retribution is the solution. Any fair judge must issue a death sentence for these defendants," said Mustafa Khater, one of a five-member prosecution team. "We feel the spirits of the martyrs flying over this hall of sacred justice and those who lost their sight by the bullets of the defendants are stumbling around it to reach the judge and demand fair retribution from those who attacked them," he told AP.

"The nation and the people are awaiting a word of justice and righteousness."

Mubarak's two sons, one-time heir apparent Gamal and Alaa, face corruption charges in the same trial along with their father and a close family friend who is a fugitive.

Mubarak was politically and legally responsible for the killing of the protesters, according to chief prosecutor Mustafa Suleiman.

"He (Mubarak) can never, as the top official, claim that he did not know what was going on," Suleiman told the court. "He is responsible for what happened and must bear the legal and political responsibility for what happened. It is irrational and illogical to assume that he did not know that protesters were being targeted."

Meanwhile, activists and opposition political parties in Egypt are urging people to turn out for a mass rally on 25 January to continue pressure on the authorities to satisfy the demands made at the start of the revolution that toppled Mubarak.

A video showing two Egyptian activists writing graffiti inciting the population to stand up against the ruling military council has gone viral on social media sites.

Egyptian Zan Zans Activists Urge Joyful Revolution [VIDEO]

The footage, which appeared on sites such as YouTube and Twitter, shows two activists from the protest group Zan Zans 25 wearing Guy Fawkes masks similar to those worn by members of the Occupy movement, as they run through the streets of the Zamalek district of central Cairo, dancing and writing graffiti calling on Egyptians to march against military rule in the country.

Zan Zan 25's video was uploaded after Egyptian police arrested four activists for putting up posters criticising the ruling military council's heavy-handed tactics against female protesters.

Those activists were from the April 6 Youth Movement, which helped trigger the uprising that ousted Mubarak in February.