Pribyl denied all knowledge of an attack on protesters in 1989

The demonstration was sparked when it emerged that Pavel Pribyl had commanded police units that broke up student protests with water cannon and truncheons in Prague in 1989.

Mr Pribyl maintained that he had never given orders to beat anti-communist demonstrators or hit them himself.

On Friday, however, he announced his intention to step down after interior ministry records revealed that one of his subordinates had attacked a protester.

Mr Pribyl acknowledged that the incident was serious enough to make his position as head of the government office untenable, but insisted in a statement to the Czech news agency CTK that it had occurred "at variance with my orders, not under my direct command and without my knowledge".

This story should finally make politicians pay attention to what they feed us Bretislav Rychlik, film director

He also indicated that he had decided to resign so as not to weaken the position of Prime Minister Stanislav Gross ahead of a crucial parliamentary confidence vote on his new Cabinet, scheduled for Tuesday.

Mr Gross - who asked Mr Pribyl to head the government office soon after he took over the premiership at the end of July - expressed his relief at the former police chief's decision, describing it as "a step aimed at calming down the situation".

'Undignified explanation'

Leading Czech cultural figures who took part in Tuesday's rally outside the government building in Prague were quick to hail Mr Pribyl's departure.

The film director Bretislav Rychlik described it as a victory for democracy, saying politicians should realise there were limits to what people were prepared to put up with.

"This story should finally make politicians pay attention to what they feed us in a democracy - some things are impossible to digest," Mr Rychlik said in remarks broadcast by Czech radio.

He dismissed Mr Pribyl's explanation for his resignation as "undignified on the part of an adult" and called on Mr Gross to "think about many of his other collaborators".

Former Czech President and dissident playwright Vaclav Havel was also among those who called for Mr Pribyl's dismissal.

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.