CAIRO: Egypt has ordered a retrial of deposed president Hosni Mubarak after accepting an appeal against his life sentence, opening up an old wound in the painful transition from decades of authoritarian rule.

Mubarak, 84, was ousted in 2011 after 30 years in power and jailed for life last year over the killing of protesters by security forces trying to quell a mass street revolt. He was the first Arab ruler brought to court by his own people.