The retrial of former president Hosni Mubarak and his two sons in the "presidential palaces" case is set to begin on 4 April, a Cairo appeal court ruled on Monday.

Mubarak, and his sons Gamal and Alaa, were originally convicted last May of embezzling LE125 million ($17.9 million) allocated for developing communications centres for the presidency, in order to develop their private buildings.

Mubarak, who was ousted in a popular uprising in 2011, received a three-year prison sentence and his sons four-year sentences.

However, they appealed against the ruling and a retrial has been ordered.

Alaa and Gamal were released in January pending the retrial after serving the maximum period of detention pending trial. They still face charges of corrupt stock exchange dealings in a separate case.

However, they were acquitted of other corruption charges for which they stood trial.

Meanwhile, Mubarak now only faces the presidential palaces retrial.

In November, the ex-autocrat  had charges of complicity in the killing of protesters of the 2011 uprising dropped, sparking protests in Tahrir Square, where millions chanted against him three and a half years earlier. He was also cleared from other corruption charges.