Egyptian police sacked for growing beards demand jobs back

Dozens of Egyptian policemen suspended from work in February for growing Islamic beards protested outside the Interior Ministry on Wednesday and called on President Mohamed Mursi to secure their reinstatement.

The policemen had sought to challenge an unwritten rule that stopped members of the security forces from growing beards during the rule of President Hosni Mubarak, who used the police to crush Islamist groups he saw as enemies of the state. Mubarak was swept from power in February, 2011.