BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhuanet) -- The retrial of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was set to reconvene on Saturday.... but the hearing was immediately adjourned when the defendants failed to appear, due to the current security crisis. The court will now reconvene in a week’s time, on August 25th.

Mubarak, plus his two sons, former interior minister Habib Al Adly and fugitive businessman Hussein Salem, all face charges of involvement in the killing of protesters during civil unrest in early 2011. The former president was forced from office in February that year, following two weeks of mass street protests.

Egyptian security officials cited "difficulties" in transferring the defendants to the court room at the New Cairo Police Academy, because of the ongoing clashes. It’s the first time Mubarak, who’s 85, has missed a session of the retrial, since it began in May.

(Source: CNTV.cn)