April 06, 2008	Sunday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 28, 1429

CAIRO, April 5: The Egyptian interior ministry warned on Saturday that it will take firm action against anyone protesting or striking, in response to calls for a general strike the following day.

“The ministry warns that, according to the law and for the protection and interest of the public, the stability, security and peace of citizens, its services will take immediate and firm measures against any attempt to demonstrate, disrupt road traffic or the running of public establishments and against all attempts to incite such acts,” a statement said.

A call for a general strike on Sunday has been circulating for more than a week on the Internet, via text messages and on the social networking site Facebook.

It is unclear who initiated the call which snowballed after some 25,000 employees at a textile plant in the central city of Mahalla announced plans to go on strike from Sunday over low salaries and price hikes.

The interior ministry accused “provocateurs and illegal movements” of having “spread false rumours and called for protests, demonstrations and a strike on Sunday”.

It stressed that it will be business as usual on Sunday at all public institutions, including schools and state-owned factories.

Sky-rocketing food prices in Egypt since the start of the year have been matched in recent weeks by a rumbling wave of popular discontent and unprecedented strikes and demonstrations. —AFP