Opposition: Cairo meddled in police unrest

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt, July 28 (UPI) -- Security officials dressed in street clothes chanted slogans backing the Egyptian Interior Ministry following protests over a police beating, eyewitnesses said.

Two Egyptian police officers Tuesday faced charges of police brutality in an Alexandria court. The men are charged with using excessive force during the June 6 arrest of 28-year-old Khaled Mohammed Said.

Said died while in custody.

Lawyers for Said told al-Jazeera that autopsy reports that suggested Said died because he choked on a bag of drugs didn't match his injuries.

Hundreds of people protested in front of the Alexandria court as Said's family called for murder charges for the accused police officials.

Witnesses said officers dressed in plain clothes were seen among the crowd chanting slogans in support of the Interior Ministry, the Muslim Brotherhood reported on its English-language Ikhwanweb Internet site.

The police at the rally were seen scuffling with protesters as they praised the work of Egyptian police, the report added.

Egyptian authorities dispatched riot police to the court Tuesday. The officers each face a 15-year prison sentence if convicted of brutality in the Said case.

The trial is scheduled to resume in September.