CAIRO, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- More than 10,000 striking police officers protested outside Egypt's Interior Ministry Monday, demanding higher pay and a purge of former regime officials.
Other officers outside Cairo blocked roads and shut down police stations.
The protesting police -- largely lower-ranking officers who want a 200 percent raise, shorter workdays and an end to the prosecution of police officers before military tribunals -- called for an immediate meeting with Interior Minister Mansour al-Essawy.
They demanded a timetable for the fulfillment of their demands, the Egyptian daily al-Masry al-Youm reported.
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The demonstrators said they would maintain an open-ended strike until their demands are met. The strike would mean upcoming parliamentary elections could not be secured from possible irregularities or violence incited by hired thugs, the daily al-Ahram reported.
The protesters also called for the Interior Ministry to be restructured and purged of officers and other Mubarak-regime loyalists involved in the killing of nearly 900 protesters during the 18-day uprising that toppled the Egyptian president.
So far, just one person -- a non-commissioned police officer who was sentenced to death in absentia -- has been convicted for killing protesters.
Assistant Minister Sayyed Shaltout said Sunday 90 percent of the officers' demands would soon be met and the remaining 10 percent would be fulfilled at a later date.
He said Essawy agreed lower-ranking officers accused of violations should be referred to disciplinary panels rather than military tribunals.
Egyptian police and security forces lost the public's sympathy long before they attacked protesters during an 18-day uprising that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak.
A reported brutal police beating in Alexandria, Egypt, in June 2010, is seen as a key factor in spurring the uprising against the state, al-Ahram said.
