CAIRO - Up to 10,000 prisoners, who escaped from prisons during the protests that ousted the Mubarak regime, are still at large, Interior Minister Mansour el-Essawi has said. Speaking to official Egyptian TV late Tuesday night, el-Essawi added that all political prisoners would be released, except for those involved in cases not settled yet. Regaining confidence in the Ministry of the Interior, not only by the people but also by the police officers was the “most challenging” task at present, he said. The sudden withdrawal of police from the Nation's streets on January 28 created a security vacuum that offered a chance to many inmates to escape from prisons. Many of those escapees were suspected of being behind acts of looting and thuggery that have recently been committed across Egypt. Attacks also targeted police stations where weapons were stolen. The Ministry had said that 14,000 escapee prisoners were back in jail. No definite figures have yet been issued on the actual number of prisoners who escaped from prisons during the sweeping nationwide protests.
