Brazil police strike leader vows resistance

SALVADOR DE BAHIA: Police strikers occupying the state legislature in the Brazilian city of Salvador vowed Monday to resist if troops try to flush them out amid a tense standoff between the security forces.

The strike, which began six days ago, cleared the way for a wave of crime including at least 87 murders in and around Salvador which will be a host city in the 2014 soccer World Cup, and where major Carnival celebrations are set to begin in two weeks.

"We are holding talks to end the protest. The police strikers are demanding amnesty but the government can't stop a judicial decision which orders the capture" of the strike leaders, Robinson Almeida, a spokesman for the Bahia state secretariat, told.

The strikers are also demanding higher pay and better working conditions.

Earlier Monday, strike leader Marcos Prisco vowed "to resist," warning that "if the army storms the building, there could be a catastrophe," according to the Globo website G1.

Prisco said nearly 4,000 people -- striking police and their families, including 300 children -- were inside the legislature.

More than 1,000 soldiers and police on Monday surrounded the legislative assembly occupied by hundreds of strikers and their families, Lieutenant-Colonel Marcio Cunha, an army spokesman, told.

Outside the legislature building, some 300 supporters of the strikers held hands and formed a giant circle to say "Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be" prayers. (AFP)