Judge in Mubarak retrial asks to step down

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CAIRO, March 4 (UPI) -- The judge presiding over former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's retrial will likely step down from the case, a judicial source told a Cairo newspaper.

Mostafa Hasan Abdallah, head of the Cairo Criminal Court who has come under attack for exonerating former officials in the Mubarak regime in an earlier case, has asked to be removed from the trial. The Appeals Court would be obliged to accept his decision if he submits a formal statement, the Cairo newspaper al-Masry al-Youm reported Monday, quoting a source speaking on condition of anonymity.

Hassan acquitted several regime members in October 2012 on charges of responsibility in the deaths of protesters, the newspaper said.

The retrial of Mubarak and former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly, on charges of responsibility for the killing of protesters in 2011, is scheduled to begin April 13.