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Workers demanding higher wages protest outside a national TV building in Cairo today. AP Photo/Khalil Hamra
Egypt

Cairo police march in support of Egpyt's revolution

The army and police had pushed to clear Tahrir Square in Cairo of protesters this morning,

Updated at 14:50

POLICE HAVE JOINED PROTESTERS in a march supporting the revolution Egypt, just hours after the military and police had cleared the last demonstrators from Tahrir Square in Cairo.

The police, whose unpopularity increased during the protests due to their support for Mubarak, said they wanted to honour the martyrs of the revolution.

One officer told Reuters that policemen also died in the protests and he believes the police and people are not enemies.

Soldiers and police cleared the last protesters from Tahrir Square this morning, after the army announced it was dissolving the parliament and suspending the country’s constitution yesterday. However, the police march today is understood to have sparked off fresh demonstrations in the city as workers protest low wages.

Thousands of state employees have taken to the streets to protest their pay and conditions, the AP reports.

Tahrir Square

Last night, a group of protesters had refused to leave the square, which became the focal point of protests against former president Hosni Mubarak.

Mubarak handed power over to the military on Friday, and the army said it would oversee the transition to a new, democratically-elected government in September.

However, some of the protesters claimed Mubarak’s resignation wasn’t enough and further reform was necessary. Scuffles broke out in the square yesterday as police attempted to force demonstrators to leave.

Photographs from Tahrir Square earlier this morning show policemen waking protesters as they urged them to finally leave the square. They threatened to arrest anyone who would not leave voluntarily, according to Haaretz. The army is expected to ban strikes in an effort to prevent further unrest and get things back to normal, Al Jazeera reports.

Yesterday was supposed to be the country’s first day of business since the protests began in late January, but the BBC reports that the army instructed banks to remain closed yesterday.

Images of Tahrir Square taken earlier today:

Cairo police march in support of Egpyt's revolution
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  • Mideast Egypt

  • Mideast Egypt

  • Mideast Egypt

  • Mideast Egypt

  • Mideast Egypt

  • Mideast Egypt