Concessions from Egypt's military as protesters stand ground

EGYPT'S government has fired nearly 700 senior police officers in an attempt to cleanse the discredited and widely unpopular force in a concession to continuing protests.

The military also said it would delay parliamentary elections initially expected to take place in September.

The poll is now to be held in October or November, giving newly established parties longer to prepare and addressing concerns that the long-established Islamist Muslim Brotherhood would be able to use its existing organisation to make gains.

Interior minister Mansour el-Issawi yesterday announced he was dismissing 669 police officers. It was seen as a response to the demands of thousands of protesters still camping out in Cairo's central Tahrir Square in what some have styled "a second revolution".

The protesters want the police force to be purged of remnants of ousted president Hosni Mubarak's regime and officers involved in the killing of nearly 900 protesters in the uprising.

Egyptian state TV said 37 of the dismissed officers face charges of killing protesters.

Among those dismissed were 505 major-generals, including ten of the interior minister's top assistants, 82 colonels, and 82 brigadiers, the report said.

"This is the biggest administrative move… to bring new blood," to the police, Mr el-Issawi said. He promised that "any police officer will be held accountable for any violation or reluctance".

The military has also said it will draft a set of regulations for selecting the 100-member assembly that will write a new constitution. That could make it more difficult for the Islamists to gain control of the body, and influence the new constitution in line with Shariah Law.

Protesters still in Tahrir Square lifted their siege of the city's largest government building yesterday, allowing business to resume while staying camped out for a sixth day to press the country's new military rulers for more rapid reform.

"The complex is open upon orders of the revolution," read a banner on its front gates.

Protesters Mahmoud el-Noubi said organisers wanted to keep pressure on the government but vowed to minimise the disruption for ordinary Egyptians.

Protesters have said they will continue to occupy the square until all their demands are met. Yesterday the square had the atmosphere of a festival, with protesters standing outside their tents and makeshift shelters, reading newspapers, drinking tea and talking politics.

Protest groups have splintered in recent months, though a huge banner was hung in the square that sought to unify their demands.It called for a new government, limited power for the military council, the release of prisoners tried by military tribunals and speedy public trials for former regime officials.

The army has come in for criticism from protesters who fear the reform process has stalled. It was previously seen as the protector of the revolution, after it refused to fire on protesters during the uprising.

Protester Ahmed Mahmoud said: "The council has proved that it is collaborating with Mubarak. We want a civilian council elected by the revolutionaries from the square."

Meanwhile, the military came under attack for reinstituting the information ministry, a symbol of Mubarak's authoritarian rule.

The Committee to Protect Journalists said in a statement that the move was a major setback for press freedom in Egypt, saying the ministry's history as an arm of the ousted regime made it unsuitable "to reform the media sector".

The ministry was disbanded and its head sacked following Mubarak's fall. The military council last week reinstated the ministry and named a new information minister.