Egypt begins demolishing Mubarak party HQ

Cairo (AFP) - Egypt on Sunday began tearing down the headquarters of the once-dominant party of ex-president Hosni Mubarak that was torched during the 2011 uprising that toppled him.

Demolition workers, using cranes and bulldozers, began razing the four-storey headquarters of Mubarak's National Democratic Party (NDP) located on the Nile in central Cairo.

An adjacent 14-storey tower that once housed offices of state-run organisations was also being dismantled.

In early 2011, angry protesters demanding the ouster of Mubarak had ransacked and set fire to the NDP buildings -- seen as symbols of his autocratic rule.

Last month the government approved plans to demolish the buildings.

Both buildings are located close to the famed building of the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities near Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square -- epicentre of the anti-Mubarak revolt.

Mubarak's NDP party was ordered officially dissolved in 2011 but a court in July lifted a ban on former members running in elections.

A court in November dropped murder charges against Mubarak, 87, in connection with the deaths of some 800 protesters during the uprising.

He was however sentenced to three years in prison in a separate case on corruption charges along with his two sons, Alaa and Gamal.