MAHALLA AL-KUBRA, Egypt- In the Northern Delta town, Egyptian police arrested nine journalists and activists.  The people in the city were roused because of the escalating food prices.  The rising prices combined with the low wages has made it more difficult for the people to survive.  According to Yahoo news, the bread price in Egypt has risen by 48% in the past year.  The journalists were covering the events related to the Egyptian opposition movement Kefaya.

The group is calling for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to step down from power.  President Mubarak has ruled Egypt since former President Anwar Sadat’s assassination.  President Mubarak has received much criticism because his expansion of presidential powers because of the state of emergency that has existed since Sadat’s assassination in 1981.  In his desire to quell possible threats to the national peace he has arrested many members of both the Muslim Brotherhood and Coptic Christians.  His tactics have disenfranchised him from many Egyptians.

The Kefaya have incited riots in the area.  There have been over 300 people arrested and one person killed during the two days of protests in the city.  One of the people arrested was the former chief of the Kefaya movement, Ishaq.  The Kefaya group believes that the government sought to employ “agents” that were used “to create chaos and justify the massacre.”  (AFP) They believe that the police have responded with disproportional force.

Unlike the protesters, the journalists were freed.

For more information, please see:

Afriquenligne-  Egyptian govt arrests 9 Journalists as media workers groan- 13 April 2008

AFP- Egypt opposition movement protests wave of arrests- 10 April 2008

The Media Line- Egypt Releases “Riot Journalists”- 13 April 2008

Yahoo News!-  Egypt bread price up nearly 50 percent in 12 months- 12 April 2008