Furious Egyptians in Mahalla, Gharbiya, west of Cairo, destroyed a picture of President Hosni Mubarak during Tuesday's protests, which had ben called by different opposition groups in Egypt.
Demonstrators chanted "Down with Hosni Mubarak," according to eyewitnesses, who estimated that approximately 5000 protesters rallied at al-Bahr street at Mahalla al-Kubra.
In 2008, tens of thousands of citizens in Mahalla, Egypt's textile production hub and a center for the country's labor movements, staged a general strike on 6 and 7 April protesting rising prices and low payments, also engaging in violent clashes with security, smashing a photograph of the president, and setting fire to schools and the ruling NDP office in the city.
Press reports said that the 2008 demonstrations claimed the lives of three protesters and injured scores of citizens and policemen.
