Egypt postponed parliamentary elections and purged hundreds of police officers in an attempt to appease protesters who have camped in Cairo’s Tahrir Square for almost a week.

With the early retirement of 669 police, Egypt´s military junta hopes to placate demonstrators gathered in Tahrir Square who are threatening to repeat the protests of earlier this year.

Egypt Protests purge nearly 1000 police

The retirement order for the officers was announced on Wednesday by Interior Minister Mansur Essawy, who said 505 of those obligated to retire are generals, 82 are colonels and the rest are officers with different ranks.

From August 1, these officers will lose their jobs, fulfilling one of the demands of protesters participating in a sit-in in Tahrir Square, epicenter of the mass demonstrations that overthrew former President Hosni Mubarak.

Protesters want the firing and trial of police accused of torturing or killing demonstrators and a reform of the Interior Ministry, among other demands.

Egypt Elections postponed

Promised general elections, originally due in September, will take place in late September and early October, cited an unidentified military official. “Polling procedures” will start before the end of September and voting will take place within 60 days, MENA said.

Many activists had also called for postponing the first legislative vote since Mubarak’s ouster, saying holding elections so soon would benefit established forces such as Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood at the expense of the young protesters who were the main driver of the revolt.

On Wednesday, Egyptian officials promised that trials for members of the previous administration, accused of different crimes, especially embezzlement, will be public and broadcast on closed circuit television, with screens placed outside courthouses.

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