Correction May 13: NBC News reports that al-Watan’s interview with Hosni Mubarak is a fabrication. Mubarak’s lawyer said that he confirmed with the former Egyptian leader that he did not speak to the reporter.
Former Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak said that history would judge his 30-year rule fairly in his first interview after losing power during the Arab Spring in 2011.
"History will witness and judge," Mubarak, who is undergoing a second trial for allegedly conspiring in the deaths of protesters, said to al-Watan newspaper in Arabic Saturday.
"I am insistent that the upcoming generations be fair to me," he said.
The 85-year-old also expressed sympathy for Mohamed Morsi, who succeeded him as president, saying that he couldn't judge Morsi yet because he "is a new president with weighty duties for the first time."
Mubarak added that he was "very sad" for Egypt's economy and the country's tenuous security.