PROTESTORS WANT MUBARAK EXECUTED

VERDICT.....Protesters walk towards Tahrir square to protest after Mubarak's verdict in Cairo .

HOSNI Mubarak, toppled by an uprising last year after 30 years ruling Egypt, was sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in killing protesters. But it was not enough for thousands of Egyptians who poured onto the streets afterwards in a nation already on edge before a deciding presidential vote in two weeks.

Some wanted Mubarak executed, others feared the judge’s ruling exposed weaknesses in the case that could let the ex-military strongman off on appeal.   

Rather than a healing experience that many Egyptians wanted, many saw the trial that acquitted top security officials as showing how much of Mubarak’s old order was still in place.   

Protesters gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, focus for the uprising that drove Mubarak out.

In Alexandria, demonstrators chanted: “We are done with talk, we want an execution!”

Yet some Egyptians said Mubarak’s sentencing was enough, even if they were unhappy security officials were off the hook.

“I think the verdict on Mubarak is fair, he is over 80 years old and a life in prison verdict is a hard one, as it means he will certainly spend all his remaining years in jail,” said Ahmed Raouf, 30, who works at a private Cairo computer firm. (Reuters)