Violence erupts after Mubarak charges dropped

One person was killed as security forces clashed with protesters in Egyptian capital Cairo amid widespread protests and condemnation of a court’s decision to clear former President Hosni Mubarak over the killing of protesters during a 2011 uprising.

Dozens more demonstrators, some hurling rocks, were injured as tear gas and birdshot were fired near Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square.

Egyptian security forces shot one person late on Saturday as they moved in and cleared the protesters off the streets.

Around 2,000 people had gathered to protest the decision to dismiss murder charges against Mubarak, his interior and six aides over the deaths of nearly 900 demonstrators in the 18-day uprising that toppled the former leader.

Delivering his verdict on Saturday, Chief Judge Mahmoud Kamel al-Rashidi said too much time had elapsed since the alleged crime took place. The judge said the former president should not be on trial in the first place.

"It is not suitable for a former president to be taken to a criminal court, according to the terms and conditions of criminal law, or to consider the things he did wrong within his political responsibilities, even those crimes mentioned in the accusation list," he said.

Mubarak's supporters leapt out of their benches in celebration when the judge pronounced the verdict, chanting: "Say the truth, don't be scared, Mubarak is innocent.”

Mubarak, 86, and his sons, Alaa and Gamal, were also cleared of corruption charges related to gas exports to Israel.

Mubarak, 86, did not walk free after Saturday's verdicts. He was found guilty in May in another case, related to the theft of public funds, and he has been serving that three-year sentence, under house arrest for medical reasons, in an army hospital in a Cairo suburb.

The overthrow of Mubarak, who ruled for about 30 years, led to Egypt's first free election but the winner, Mohamed Morsi, was toppled last year by the army.

The release of some Mubarak-era figures this year had already raised fears among activists that the old leadership was regaining influence.