Egypt Seeks to Appease Angry Workers
Egypt rushed Tuesday to grant bonuses to workers after two days of deadly riots over high food prices and low wages wracked this northern industrial city, fueling government fears that economic angst might boil over across the country. A top United Nations official warned that many poor nations are in danger of such unrest as inflation heats up around the globe. Rising prices have struck hard in Egypt, a U.S. ally where 40 percent of the people live in or near poverty. This Nile Delta factory city has seen a wave of strikes for more than a year, and the anger exploded into rioting Sunday and Monday. Protesters tore down a billboard of President Hosni Mubarak and fought with police in clashes that left one person dead in the worst unrest since Egypt's 1977 riots over increased bread prices.
See "Egypt Seeks to Appease Angry Workers", Maggie Michael, San Francisco Chronicle, April 7, 2008