A coalition of retired army officers will stage a protest using coffins next Saturday in front of the Ministry of Defense to demand pensions equal to that of recently retired army officers.

Retired Major General Midhat al-Haddad, a member of the coalition, said, "Our latest protest was on 20 October before the cabinet headquarters and no one responded to our demands. All we have received were unfulfilled promises.

“So we will organize a new protest in front of the [Defense] Ministry using coffins as a means of escalation. It is possible to engage in an open-ended sit-in if our demands continue to be ignored," he continued.

He added that the old officers fought in many wars, including the Gulf War, and had not received any rights or entitlements, and said that other demands included medical care cards for old retirees and their families, allowances from the Gulf War and other delayed bonuses.

In June 2012, Farid Ismail, an MP from the Freedom and Justice Party, proposed a bill that would quadruple army salaries. However, the People’s Assembly was dissolved later that month before the bill was passed.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm