CAIRO: Egypt's Interior Ministry has fired nearly 600 top police officers, it announced Wednesday afternoon. Of those, 37 are charged with killing demonstrators. Egyptian Interior Minister Mansour el-Essawy also announced today that 4,000 police officers have been dismissed. It is the largest such dismissal. The minister confirmed that his ministry dismissed those officers who were involved in killing peaceful demonstrators during Egypt's January 25 Revolution. The minister said that the movement met the demands of the Egyptian revolution, clarifying that the investigations proved that the security directors, accused of killing the demonstrators, hadn't carried weapons or ordered their subordinates fire shots on the protesters. El-Essawy added that he will not take any decision in a violation to the law. He said he cannot end the service of the young officers as the law has not provided him with the right to do so. He confirmed that the ministry will not be affected by dismissing that large number of officers as the ministry needs to renew its staff. It is important to mention that the change conducted by the Interior ministry included most of the security top officials in different sectors and governorates across Egypt.
