Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi had a hand in cutting off internet and cell phone service during the revolution, said Hosni Mubarak, the former president's lawyer Mohamed Abdel Wahab alleged on Friday. The military responded by quickly denying the allegations.
On 28 May, a court ruled that Mubarak, former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly be fined US$90,000 for shutting down telecommunication services during the revolution and thus causing damage to the economy.
Abdel Wahab said on Thursday that Mubarak would appeal against the ruling.
The decision to cut telecommunications was taken by a board of officials that included Tantawi himself, without Mubarak's prior consultation, Abdel Wahab claimed Mubarak told him.
In a statement issued on Friday evening a military source asked people to keep the military out of these "altercations" and said that the armed forces sided with the protesters since the beginning of the revolution.
A military source told AFP that Mubarak believed the armed forces failed him when he was the head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, and that he is just "settling the score" with the military.
Mubarak is currently being tried on charges of corruption and inciting the killing of peaceful protesters. On Wednesday, the first day of the trial, he asked that Tantawi be called to testify.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
