Egypt's ex-president Hosni Mubarak has been sentenced to life in prison after a court convicted him on charges of complicity in the killing of protesters during last year's uprising that forced him from power, the Associated Press reports.

Mubarak is the first Arab leader to be tried by his own people in the country.

The sentence was handed down Saturday in a Cairo court.

Update, 4:45 a.m. ET: AP reports that scuffles broke out in the courtroom after the verdicts were announced.

Additionally, Mubarak's two sons - Gamal and Alaa - have been cleared on charges of corruption.

Update, 4:48 a.m. ET: CNN reports that Habib El Adly, who served as Mubarak's interior minister, also sentenced to life in prison.

Update, 4:58 a.m. ET: CBS reports that the ailing Mubarak had been wheeled into the courtroom on a hospital gurney. The former president, wearing a light brown jumpsuit, tried to shield his face from cameras. Egyptian state television showed images of the 84-year-old Mubarak in a cage in the courtroom.

CBS also reports that riot police had cordoned off the building to keep the crowd, which included family members of those slain in the uprising, from getting to close to the proceedings.

Update, 5:04 a.m.: The BBC reports that the Judge Ahmed Refaat, who presided over the 10-month trial, insisted that the proceedings had been fair despite criticism over problems with the investigation. He said that the Egyptian people had suffered 30 year's of darkness under the dictator.

Mubarak had faced the possibility of being sentenced to death.