A security official on Tuesday allegedly assaulted and insulted the secretary of Deputy Prime Minister Ali al-Selmy at the cabinet's headquarters, sources said. The sources, who asked not to be named, said cabinet security chief Tamer Amin asked Amal Ramadan, Selmy's assistant, to move out of the way for Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, who was about to go to his office for a meeting. The same sources said the officer, whose father was a former inspector at the disbanded State Security Investigation Services, yelled at Ramadan to step aside. Ramadan then reportedly told the officer not to raise his voice. As Sharaf headed to his office, the officer reportedly came back at Ramadan and beat her, but three security agents intervened. The prime minister has not yet been informed of the incident, the sources said, but eyewitnesses said they will send him a complaint against the officer. The news published on Al-Masry Al-Youm's Arabic website drew angry comments by visitors, who slammed the continuation of the harsh attitude of Egyptian police services. "It seems the Interior Ministry and police officers are still adhering to their old policies in dealing with the citizens, and things will not get better unless those policies are reformed," one reader said. After the 25 January revolution, several human rights activists demanded the reform of the education system for police. They said former President Hosni Mubarak utilized police services to protect his regime. Translated from the Arabic Edition
