VZCZCXYZ0023
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHEG #0715 0991757
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 081757Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8854
INFO RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC

UNCLAS CAIRO 000715 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ELA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB PGOV PHUM ECON EG
SUBJECT: SECOND NIGHT OF VIOLENT CLASHES IN NILE DELTA TOWN 
 
REF: CAIRO 697 
 
Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Violent clashes between police and protestors 
reignited April 7 on the streets of the Nile Delta textile 
mill town of Mehalla el Kubra.  The flashpoint of the 
protests centered on the Mehalla police station, where 
protesters gathered to demand the release of those detained 
the previous day (reftel).  Police used batons, tear gas, and 
plastic-coated bullets in an attempt to control the crowds. 
Prominent leftist bloggers have flooded their internet sites 
with photographs and YouTube videos of the violence, 
including of visibly injured protesters, rioters wielding 
rocks and Molotov cocktails, and mobs stomping on a 
billboard-sized portrait of President Mubarak while chanting 
expletive-laden denunciations of Mubarak and son Gamal.  Four 
people have reportedly died as a result of the police 
crackdown, while a human rights NGO reported to us on 
Tuesday, April 8 that a 6-month-old baby girl had also died 
that morning due to exposure to police tear gas fired during 
Monday's clashes.  The number of detainees remains unclear, 
although one activist reports that more than 150 are in 
police custody.  As of early evening April 8, Mehalla 
remained tense but quiet. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and Minister of Manpower 
Aisha Abdel Hady, traveling under heavy security, both paid 
separate visits to the Ghazl el Mehalla textile factory in 
Mehalla el Kubra on April 8 to hold talks with the factory's 
informal labor leadership over long-held grievances over pay 
and incentives.  (Comment: The Mehalla labor leaders are not 
part of the official, GOE-sanctioned labor union structure, 
but are viewed by workers as their "legitimate" 
representatives.  End comment.)  In an official press release 
following the meetings, the PM hailed the workers' decision 
to abort the planned April 6 strike, and thanked them for 
"taking a firm stand against sabotage" and "foreign parties." 
 Abdel Hady announced that she was also going to pay the 
workers a 15-day bonus as a sign of appreciation for 
abandoning their strike plans. 
 
¶3. (SBU) State media have raised the specter of "outside 
forces" or the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) as catalysts for the 
violence.  We have been assured by high levels within 
Egyptian State Security among others that the MB had no 
involvement in the planned strikes for Mehalla.  Although a 
rift apparently formed among Ghazl el Mehalla workers in the 
run-up to April 6 when the more-seasoned leaders of strikes 
past opted to abort the strike in favor of more negotiation 
while a more militant grouping sought greater confrontation, 
our information indicates that the majority of those engaged 
in the burning, looting and violent clashes with police were 
teenagers or unemployed males from the surrounding area. 
Police have nonetheless arrested several leaders of the more 
confrontational wing of the textile workers. 
RICCIARDONE