Egypt's chief coroner was sacked on Wednesday and activists applauded the move, saying he had forged autopsy results to hide torture and state security abuses.

The justice minister sacked coroner Ahmed Sabiey after he was investigated for having given unauthorised interviews on the health of former President Hosni Mubarak, judicial sources said.

Internet social networking sites had carried statements from dozens of groups calling for Sabiey to step down.

He was blamed for having covered up details of the death of 28-year-old Khaled Said in June. The death sparked public protests and was one of the main catalysts in galvanising anger that eventually toppled Mubarak on February 11.

Witnesses and rights groups say Said was beaten to death outside an Internet cafe in the port city of Alexandria after he had posted a video that purportedly showed two policemen sharing in the spoils of a drug bust.

But government autopsies found that Said had choked on a plastic roll of drugs and his injuries were not the cause of his death. Two officers are now facing trial in the case.

An 18-day uprising claimed the lives of at least 846 people and wounded more than 6,000, a state-appointed committee concluded last month.

Autopsies at the time had blamed many of the deaths on heat stroke or heart attacks, conclusions which families of the dead contested, saying their relatives had received bullet wounds.

Reuters