(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Hundreds of Egyptian policemen took to the streets of the canal city of Ismailiya on Saturday, alleging abuse within their ranks and accusing senior officers of ordering them to shoot at protesters, participants said.
Uniformed police and members of the secret police marched down a main road chanting "police and people together," a modification of the chant that anti-regime protesters have used for the army, which stepped in to keep the peace during 18 days of protests that toppled Egypt President Hosni Mubarak.
The police have been the target of popular wrath after they clashed violently with protesters seeking to overthrow Mubarak. They were also accused of releasing prisoners from several detention facilities around the country, before disappearing from the streets in large parts of the country.
"We are with the people," said one protesting policeman. "The violence was not our fault," he added.
"It was ordered by loyalists of [then Interior Minister] Habib al-Adly," who was sacked in a government reshuffle aimed at placating the protesters.
In Ismailiya, police also denounced corruption within their ranks.
"The officers made us work as cooks and drivers in their private homes," said one protester, who like many at the demonstration demanded a review of salaries.
Nationwide demonstrations calling for Mubarak to step down erupted on January 25. They left at least 300 people dead and thousands injured or detained.
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