CAIRO ? Thousands of state workers and impoverished Egyptians went on strike Wednesday after weeks of anti-government protests cast a spotlight on corruption and the wealth amassed by those in power in a country where almost half the people live near the poverty line.
The protests calling for President Hosni Mubarak's ouster have been spreading since Tuesday outside of Cairo's Tahrir Square, where they have been concentrated for the past week. On Wednesday, demonstrators also gathered at parliament, the Cabinet and the Health Ministry buildings, all a few blocks from the square. Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq was working out of the Civil Aviation Ministry on the other side of the city because his office was blocked by protesters.
For the first time, protesters were forcefully urging labor strikes despite a warning by Vice President Omar Suleiman that calls for civil disobedience are "very dangerous for society and we can't put up with this at all. His warnings Tuesday were taken by protesters as a thinly veiled threat of another crackdown.
Strikes erupted in a breadth of sectors ? among railway and bus workers, state electricity staff and service technicians at the Suez Canal, in factories manufacturing textiles, steel and beverages and at least one hospital.
;They were motivated to strike when they heard about how many billions the Mubarak family was worth," said Kamal Abbas, a labor leader. "They said: 'How much longer should we be silent?'
Egyptians have been infuriated by newspaper reports that the Mubarak family has amassed billions, and perhaps tens of billions of dollars in wealth while, according to the World Bank, about 40 percent of the country's 80 million people live below or near the poverty line of $2 a day. The family's true net worth is not known
エジプト国民は、ムバラク家が何十億もかき集め、おそらく何百億の資産価値を保有しているという新聞報道に激怒した。一方、世界銀行によれば、8千万という国の人口の40%が貧困ラインに近い、もしくはそれ以下の1日2ドルという生活を強いられている。ムバラク家の本当の純資産額は不明だ。
.;O Mubarak, tell us where you get $70 billion dollars," dozens of protesters chanted in front of the Health Ministry. Protesters with blankets gathered outside the parliament building in Cairo on Wednesday, with no plan to move, our correspondent reported. The demonstrators have put up a sign that reads: "Closed until the fall of the regime".
The government seems to be scrambling under pressure from major powers and pro-democracy supporters
訳文中の「ここ数週間」を「ここ1週間」に訂正します。申し訳ありません。