Egyptian torches himself at parliament

Report Abdelmoneim from Qantara sets himself alight because he did not receive bread coupons for his restaurant.

Middle East Online

Close to half of Egypt's 80 million people live below the poverty line of two dollars a day CAIRO - A man set himself alight outside parliament in Cairo on Monday, the official MENA agency said, in an apparent copycat replay of the self-immolation of a Tunisian graduate which sparked a popular revolt. The man, who was identified as restaurant owner Abdo Abdelmoneim from Qantara, near the port town of Ismailiya, "stood in front the parliament building in (downtown Cairo) and set fire to his body." "He was immediately taken to hospital to receive the necessary treatment," MENA said. A parliamentary source said the man "stood outside the People's Assembly, poured fuel on himself and set himself on fire." "A policeman who was close by managed to extinguish the fire and the man was quickly taken away by ambulance," the source added. MENA said the man was driven to set himself alight because "he did not receive the bread coupons for his restaurant." It did not elaborate. The incident comes after 26-year-old Tunisian graduate Mohammed Bouazizi torched himself in Tunisia when police prevented him from selling fruit and vegetables to make a living. The case of Bouazizi, who would later die of his wounds, unleashed a wave of protests in Tunisia that would eventually topple the 23-year-old regime of President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali. In Algeria, at least four attempted public suicides -- all over jobs and housing -- were reported this week after Bouazizi's self-immolation. Egyptians have often voiced similar grievances to Tunisians. They have long complained of economic hardships and Cairo has regularly come under criticism for failing to lift an emergency law in place for three decads. Close to half of Egypt's 80 million people live below the poverty line of two dollars a day. On Friday, dozens of Egyptians celebrated Ben Ali’s ouster outside the Tunisian embassy in central Cairo.