He also insisted that no one would have listened to him had
he ordered a stop to the violence, which killed nearly 900 protesters, and
suggested that both the security forces and the demonstrators fired on each
other during the Jan. 25-Feb. 11 uprising.
Mubarak, 83, also denied corruption allegations, while
seeking to explain why a bank account in his name held millions of dollars in
foreign donations intended for the construction and upkeep of a massive library
in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria. He said he had secretly kept the
money from the library's management so they could not claim it or use it for
purposes not related to the facility.
The transcript of Mubarak's questioning by prosecutors was
published Thursday by two independent newspapers, Al-Youm Al-Sabea and
Al-Dustour. Al-Youm Al-Sabea published photographs of the original handwritten
notes of the interrogators on its website.
Judicial officials told The Associated Press that the
transcript was authentic.
Mubarak, under police custody at a hospital in a Red Sea
resort, faces trial next month on charges of ordering the use of deadly force
against the demonstrations. He is also facing charges of corruption along with
his two sons, businessman Alaa and Gamal.
Justice for the uprising's victims is among the hottest
issues in Egypt during its bumpy transition toward democracy. Protesters have
been camping out at a central Cairo square since last week to demand that those
behind the killings be swiftly tried. Interior Minister Mansour El-Issawi on
Wednesday fired nearly 700 senior police officers to cleanse the deeply
unpopular force, but protesters remained unsatisfied, arguing that a complete
restructuring of the force is needed.
Mubarak appeared to grossly underestimate the number of
protesters out on the streets in Cairo and across much of the nation during the
uprising and, at one point, was dismissive of the violence and the resulting
loss of life. "Our people and our security are like that."
Asked to explain why he thought protesters were killed and
wounded during the uprising, Mubarak said: "I cannot say exactly." He
later added that there was chaos, with the security forces and the protesters
attacking each other.
"No one would have paid any attention to me or my
orders," he replied when asked why he did not stop the violence.
