Egyptian pig farmers have clashed with police in Cairo, as they tried to stop their animals being slaughtered.
Hundreds of people at the Manshiyat Nasr slum threw stones and bottles at police who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.
The government wants to cull all the nation’s pigs, a move UN experts say is not necessary to prevent swine flu.
Egypt’s pigs mostly belong to the Coptic Christian minority who say the cull has reignited religious tensions.
The authorities initially said the pig cull was a precaution against swine flu but now describe as a general public health measure.
There have been no cases of swine flu reported in Egypt.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8031490.stm
(never allow a crisis go to waste...take away the livelyhood of the Copts.)
Coptic Christians take part in a midnight service to celebrate Christ's resurrection, at the Coptic Cathedral in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, April 26, 2008. The Coptic Church is the native Christian church of Egypt, and has a doctrine similar to Greek Orthodox and Russian Orthodox churches.