CAIRO, 7 April 2008 — Heavy police presence foiled plans for a general strike in Egypt yesterday. The strike was called in response to the rising cost of food, low wages and other public grievances.
Making good on its warning to take firm action against protesters, the government arrested 95 people in several provinces. Hundreds of riot police surrounded Tahrir Square in Cairo that was supposedly a prime center sought by demonstrators airing grievances. Police also prevented around 40,000 weavers from striking at their factories in the northern Nile Delta industrial city of Mahalla El-Kobra.
Though schools and universities were officially open across the country, roughly a third of students and faculty in most educational institutions reportedly did not show up for classes, more from fear of violence than in support of the strike itself.
At the Lawyers Syndicate headquarters in downtown Cairo, demonstrators chanted slogans on the high cost of living, but they did so from the building’s windows, balconies and rooftop.
The call for the strike was made since Tuesday by unidentified parties through the Internet, mostly in the form of e-mails and text messages.
