CAIRO — Egypt’s government sacked nearly 700 top police officers Wednesday, state television reported, the start of a promised cleansing of a force blamed for chronic abuses during the rule of Hosni Mubarak. The move meets a key demand of protesters encamped in Cairo’s Tahrir Square who are frustrated by the slow pace of change since an 18-day uprising forced the long-entrenched president from office in February.
In another overture to protesters, Egypt’s state news agency reported that parliamentary elections, which had been slated for September, would be postponed by a month or two. Burgeoning political parties that emerged from the uprising had worried that an early vote would make it difficult for them to compete with established groups like the Muslim Brotherhood.
