Egypt: Death toll put at 365 as strikes continue

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By SARAH EL DEEB

CAIRO (AP) - At least 365 people died in the 18 days of anti-government protests that pushed out longtime Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, the Health Ministry said Wednesday in the first official accounting of the death toll.

Minister Ahmed Sameh Farid said it was only a preliminary count of civilians killed and did not include police or prisoners. And while Mubarak is gone, frustration with the quality of life - from working conditions to environmental concerns - has kept demonstrators in the streets as the economy continues to falter.

Airport employees protested for better pay Wednesday, textile workers went on strike to demand a corruption probe and residents of a Suez Canal city pressed for the closing of a chemical factory they say is dumping toxic waste into a lake.

The ruling military council issued its second statement in three days calling for an immediate halt to all labor actions. The new warning raised expectations of an outright ban on protests and strikes that could easily raise the tension between authorities and the protest movement.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20110216/D9LE1DQO0.html

[Uncle Joe]

1. For the sake of the Egyptian People, I hope the Army has the good sense to open up the

dialog to all the people.

More than 60 women's and community groups condemned the new panel formed by the Armed Forces Supreme Council to amend Egypt's constitution, saying it is an all-male group which "excludes half of society."

"This casts doubt on the future of democratic transformation in Egypt after the revolution, and raises questions about ... whether the revolution was seeking to free the whole society or only certain segments," the statement said.

Thanks for the thread, Omaha Steve.