Thousands clash with police in Egyptian bread riot
Pastor Dale Morgan
Thousands clash with police in Egyptian bread riot*
By SALAH NASRAWI
The Associated Press
Sunday, June 8, 2008; 4:57 PM
CAIRO, Egypt -- Thousands of demonstrators fought with police after a
protest over flour rations in a town on Egypt's Mediterranean coast, a
security official and state media said Sunday.
The state-owned daily Al-Ahram said some 8,000 protesters sealed off the
main Cairo-Mediterranean highway for seven hours Saturday and burnt
tires to stop traffic. Police fired tear gas and arrested dozens to
disperse the crowd,
A security official said police were questioning 87 suspects.
The protesters were angered by the decision of authorities in Burullus
to stop distributing subsidized flour directly to residents and instead
deliver it exclusively to bakeries, the official said on condition of
anonymity because he is not authorized to give statements.
Fishermen in Burullus prefer to bake a type of bread suited to long
fishing voyages instead of buying the standard subsidized bread from
bakeries.
There have also been accusations by the government that people are
selling the subsidized flour on the black market for a profit, leading
to shortages.
Like much of the rest of the world, Egypt has been wracked by rising
food prices and stagnant wages, resulting in protests and demonstrations.
There has also been a shortage of the subsidized bread relied on by vast
segments of this impoverished country of 76.5 million.
Some 10 people were reported killed since the beginning of the year
after scuffles in bread lines.