Judge Omar Marwan, the commission’s secretary general, was speaking at a news conference after the release of its report’s summary, which said 846 civilians died in the protests that led to Mubarak’s ouster in February.

Twenty-six policemen were also killed in the 18 days of unrest, the report said, adding that police used excessive force against demonstrators and shot at people trying to film the events from balconies and windows.

“What is confirmed is that Mubarak’s permission (to use live fire on protesters) must be obtained. The shooting lasted for several days, and he did not hold accountable those who fired live rounds,” Marwan said.

“That confirms his involvement in responsibility,” he said.

The report found that most of the dead had been shot in the head and chest, which indicated the use of snipers.

Marwan said snipers from a counter-terrorism unit belonging to the now dissolved State Security apparatus were deployed against protesters. Mubarak was remanded last week to 15 days’ preventive custody in hospital, on suspicion of involvement in the deaths of protesters.

No formal charges have yet been laid against him.

Former interior minister Habib Al-Adli is on trial on charges of ordering the shooting of anti-regime protesters.

The fact-finding mission also announced that at least 846 Egyptians died in the uprising.

In their report, the panel of judges described police forces shooting protesters in the head and chest with live ammunition and presented a death toll more than twice that of previous official estimates.

“The fatal shots were due to firing bullets at the head and the chest,” the report read, adding that “a huge number of eye injures,” filled hospitals, and hundreds lost their sight.