Mubarak report editor charged

CAIRO - A newspaper editor has been put on trial in Egypt for reporting that the President, Hosni Mubarak, was gravely ill.

Ibrahim Eissa, editor of the independent weekly al-Dustour and a well-known Government critic, is accused of spreading "false information, damaging the public interest and national stability".

The charges relate to the publication of rumours, circulated widely during August, that Mubarak, 79, was in poor health or had died.

It is alleged that the publication of the rumours led to foreign investors pulling funds out of Egypt. Eissa was also recently convicted of insulting Mubarak in a separate case, which is pending appeal.

- Independent