Egypt's president announced a 30 percent salary increase for all government employees Wednesday, a day after the country's largest opposition group backed calls for a general strike to protest rising food prices. The Egyptian government has been on edge since early April when thousands of citizens staged violent riots in the northern city of Mahalla over low salaries and rising prices. Three people were killed during the protests, 80 were injured and about 400 were arrested. The Muslim Brotherhood stayed on the sidelines during the April protests. But the powerful opposition group's decision Tuesday to back a strike timed to coincide with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's 80th birthday in May could have contributed to the president's decision to take unprecedented action.
See "Egypt leader raises salaries 30 percent after strike threat", Associated Press, The New York Times, April 29, 2008