Clashes in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia Over Bread Shortage, Unemployment, Living Costs and Poverty
Hundreds of Egyptian demonstrators clashed with police, sealed off a road and burned car tires to protest the shortage of bread in the coastal town of Burullus in northern Egypt, security sources said.
Three protesters were hospitalized after inhaling teargas, and rubber bullets had been fired at the crowd, security sources said.
Protesters accused the officials and local bakeries of stealing flour geared for subsidized bread, which caused a shortage of bread.
The demand for subsidized bread has grown and the heavy subsidy has increased the incentive to divert subsidized flour illegally to other uses.
In May, Egypt said it would add at least 17 million people to the list of ration card holders to ease the effect of rising food prices.
Meanwhile, in Tunisia, police opened fire against rioters in the city of al-Radef, 350 km (about 217.35 miles) from Tunis the capital, leaving a 22-year-old man dead and about 22 wounded, local press reported. (1 kilometer = 0.6213 mile)
Unrest in the phosphate mining region of Gafsa has continued for two months, with hundreds of youths rioting over unemployment and rising living costs in the region.
In Morocco, the government denied an al-Jazeera broadcast report that up to 10 people were killed in rioting, when police clashed with demonstrators who have blocked the Sidi Ifni port since May 30th to protest poverty and unemployment, Moroccan Press Agency reported.
Some 44 people, including 27 police officers, were injured in the violent clashes but no one was killed, Agence France Presse quoted government spokesman as saying.
Source: el-Wasat, Egypt, June 7, 2008; Magharebia, Germany, June 8, 2008
