EGYPT: Bread rage

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The bread war has come again to Egypt.

Outrage over bread shortages has forced the government of President Hosni Mubarak to call up the army. Mubarak has ordered army bakeries to supply bread to the commercial market to stem shortages caused by corruption and rising international wheat prices.

Long lines and anger, sometimes bursting into demonstrations and violence, have become common at the nation’s bakeries. Nearly half of Egyptians are poor and rely on subsidized bread.

When that flow is interrupted, even good-natured Egyptians, who tolerate political oppression and high inflation, boil into fury. In 1977, then-President Anwar Sadat attempted to lift bread subsidies. Riots broke out as hundreds of thousands of protesters clashed with police across the country. At least 70 people were killed. Sadat retreated.

Mubarak knows Egyptians will endure much, but to deny them their daily bread is asking for trouble.

— Noha El-Hennawy in Cairo