Mubarak could face death penalty in high-profile trial

IN his last address to the nation as president, Hosni Mubarak vowed he would never leave his homeland and would die on its soil. His decision not to flee Egypt may carry a heavy price.

Today, Mubarak is to be tried for conspiring to kill protesters who drove him from office on February 11 after 30 years at the helm. If convicted, he could face the death penalty, although few expect that outcome.

As a visible example of the change that has swept Egypt, the court has been set up in a Cairo Police Academy that once bore his name in big concrete letters, which have since been torn down.