Yesterday there was a pretty nasty sandstorm in Cairo. It happened to fall on the same day as a (failed) nationwide strike protesting poor working conditions, low wages and outrageous inflation, on top of everything else people are pissed off about. News from about 100km north of Cairo says at least one person was killed in clashes with police and buildings, cars, etc were torched.
It’s no secret Egypt is poor. Nearly half of the 80 million people live on less than $2 a day, subsidized bread is no longer affordable and corruption is rife all across the board. Tomorrow are nationwide municipal elections. The police have been rounding up Muslim Brotherhood members (in the hundreds) to keep them from participating, and now the MB have called for an election boycott. People are pretty fed up and the strike kept Cairo relatively quiet yesterday, but the extreme police lockdown kept people from getting too rowdy in the city. Yesterday will probably be more of the same but the government has certainly been put on notice.
Urban Sahara
TAGS: election, Muslim
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April 7th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
Did you see any of this shit go down - either the sandstorm or the protests?
April 8th, 2008 at 2:59 am
Yeah, i still have sand in my mouth, ears, etc. No protests in Cairo though, they never really got going, way too many cops.
April 8th, 2008 at 3:17 am
Dude, sand is like glitter, it gets everywhere and you find it for days. But seriously Jeff, I hope you both are safe and sound out there. We’re thinkin about ya.
April 8th, 2008 at 3:34 am
I love sand. Really, there wasn’t/isn’t anything going down. No good riots here.
April 8th, 2008 at 9:37 am
You’re gonna die Infidel!!!
April 8th, 2008 at 9:50 am
Do you have to wear goggles out?
April 8th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
No “good riots” huh? you’re hilarious. Well, you can always get involved via def-con with LaCroix. ” Dude! you hit my silos! “