Bahia governor hopeful of deal to end police strike

The standoff between security forces and striking policemen occupying the state legislature in the Brazilian city of Salvador can be resolved through negotiations, the governor of Bahia state said Tuesday. "We are heading toward a negotiated way out (of the crisis)," Bahia's Jaques Wagner told Globo News television. More than 200 striking police and dozens of their relatives are still holed up in the state legislature which is surrounding by more than 1,000 soldiers and police. The strikers are demanding higher pay, better working conditions and an amnesty. The strike, which began a week ago, led to a crime wave including at least 87 murders in and around Salvador, the capital of the northeastern Bahia state, which will be a host city in the 2014 soccer World Cup. Wagner said talks with the strikers, which began Monday afternoon and ended in the wee hours of Tuesday, were to resume at 1200 GMT. "When you negotiate for so long, it means you are heading in the right direction," said the governor, who stressed that he was willing to meet the strikers' demand for a 17 percent pay hike but ruled out any amnesty for those strikers who engaged in "criminal acts". He explained that he did not have the financial means to readjust police salaries immediately but pledged that the increase would "be granted gradually over the next three years." "My budget is limited," Wagner said. The Bahia state government initially offered a 6.5 percent pay hike, which was rejected by the strikers led by Marcos Prisco. Wagner said that over the past five years, salaries of military police, who in Brazil are responsible for maintaining law and order, rose 30 percent. More than 9,000 new police personnel, with modernized equipment, were recruited across Bahia, Brazil's fourth most populous state with a population of 13.6 million. The strike in this city of 2.5 million people and the resulting spike in violence came just two weeks before millions of tourists were expected to arrive for Carnival, Brazil's premier tourist event. City streets and tourists spots were deserted early Tuesday. Meanwhile, families of the strikers with children emerged from the besieged legislature where food and water are running low, while other supporters camped out in the gardens overnight.