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Food-Price Protests Erupt In Egyptian, Haitian Cities

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By MAGGIE MICHAEL

The Associated Press

Published: April 9, 2008

MAHALLA EL-KOBRA, Egypt - 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 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.

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.

Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif said workers would receive a bonus of 30 days' pay, and promised to address their demands for better health care and higher wages.

The chief of U.N. humanitarian operations, John Holmes, said Tuesday that poor people around the world are facing worsening hardship because of the expense of food. He said food prices rose an average of 40 percent during the past year.

In Haiti, one of the world's poorest countries where in the best of times most people struggle to fill their bellies, hungry citizens stormed the presidential palace Tuesday, throwing rocks and demanding the resignation of President Rene Preval over soaring food prices. Guards struggled to hold back the crowd until U.N. peacekeepers came to their rescue, firing rubber bullets and tear gas.

"I compare this situation to having a bucket full of gasoline and having some people around with a box of matches," said Preval adviser Patrick Elie. "As long as the two have a possibility to meet, you're going to have trouble."

Haitians have compared their hunger to "eating Clorox" - because of the burning feeling in their stomachs and the skin-bleaching effects of chronic malnutrition. The most desperate have come to depend on cookies made of dirt, vegetable oil and salt.

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