Speculation swirled until hours before the start of the trial about whether the 83-year-old, hospitalized in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh since April, would turn up to face charges of conspiring over the killing of demonstrators.

Medical sources said members of his family had arrived at his hospital late Tuesday, and an airport source said a medically equipped aircraft had landed at the local airport.

Protesters are determined to see him in the dock and are likely to be enraged if he does not appear. Mubarak will be the first Arab leader to face a trial following the uprisings.