Lawyers for Hosni Mubarak's former interior minister Habib El-Adly continued their defence on Thursday.

El-Aldy is on trial, along with six aides and former president Hosni Mubarak for ordering security forces to open fire on unarmed demonstrators during last year’s 18-day uprising, which left 846 protesters dead and around 6,000 injured according to official sources.

El-Adly’s defence lawyer, Mohamed El-Guindy, denied that his client gave orders to kill protesters during the uprising and accused security guards at the American University in Cairo – which is adjacent to Tahrir Square – of firing on protesters and blaming the deaths on the security forces.

El-Guindy went on to claim that an armed Qatari and a Palestinian were arrested in Tahrir Square on 25 January, which proved foreign infiltrators entered the square and killed protesters.

Referring to Al-Adly's infamous decision to cut all mobile phone lines on 28 January, El-Guindy claimed his client acted because the mobile phone companies Mobinil, Vodafone and Etisalat were spying for Israel. He added that Al-Adly had previously said the phone lines were cut for "security reasons" because of the issue's "sensitivity."

In Tuesday's session, El-Guindy told the court that the Muslim Brotherhood had planned to participate in last year’s 28 January “Friday of Rage” after receiving assurances from the interior ministry that the protest would remain peaceful.