The Interior Ministry is working to restructure Egypt's police force, an Egyptian security official told state TV Tuesday.
The police organization should be replaced with a totally new structure by the Interior Ministry, but only after the country's political and security situations stabilize, General Abdel Latif al-Bidiny, the deputy interior minister, said.
Low-ranking policemen, meanwhile, continued their sit-in for a third day outside Interior Ministry directorates in a number of provinces, demanding improved living and work conditions and the dismissal of ministry leaders connected to former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly.
The policemen’s demands are legitimate, Bidiny said, but the country faces difficult security conditions.
Rights activists demanded changes in police education after the 25 January revolution, especially since ousted President Hosni Mubarak used police to keep himself in power and kill demonstrators.
Activists say a civilian with a legal background, such as a judge or a lawyer, should take charge of the Interior Ministry.
Counselor Zakaria Abdel Aziz, head of the Judges Club, suggested in March that graduates of faculties of law work as officers after having short training courses at the Police Academy.
