CAIRO: The first witness in the trial of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said that an assistant of former Minister of Interior Habib al-Adly issued the order to arm security forces with live ammunition. Badry Said testified that General Ahmed Ramzy, assistant to former Minister of Interior Habib al-Adly, armed security forces in front of the Ministry of Interior without consulting higher leadership and that the ministry used ambulances to transport weapons and ammunition to Tahrir Square. According to Said, the order was given over the phone to the leadership of security forces. Badry was responsible to maintain communication networks between security forces' leadership and operations teams. Said added that he did not receive any information regarding how to deal with protesters until the night of January 25, when he was given instructions to preserve the current situation in Tahrir, and accompanied by the Assistant Minister for the Central Security Forces (CSF). "The instructions to deal with the protester were to use water [cannons] and tear gas to disperse them," said Badry, who said that the CSF typically uses shields, batons, shotguns, and tear gas.
