LAWLESSNESS IN ALEXANDRIA

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXXVI, Issue 14638, 6 April 1948, Page 3

LAWLESSNESS IN ALEXANDRIA

POLICE STRIKE SPREADS Troops Fire On Looters In Cairo Weakening Authority Of Government London, April 5. A Middle East correspondent has reported on the possible effect of the strike of the Egyptian Police which started earlier today. It is a serious affair for the Government, he says, because it weakens its authority and could have political repercussions. . The correspondent explains that the Egyptian Police threatened to strike last October for higher pay and other concessions. *

The pay of an ordinary Police Constable, he says, is at present very low. When the Police first threatened to strike King Farouk intervened personally, and promised that their claims, would be considered, and that the Prime Minister would set up a special committee to consider their case.

After a day in which the strike threatened to paralyse all services in Alexandria, the Director-General of Public Security told the correspondent tonight that the Army now had control of the situation. He said that senior Police officers had not taken part in the strike. It is estimated that at least 15 people have been killed in clashes with the Egyptian troops in Alexandria. Shops and cinemas have been looted, and at one time there was several fires with clouds of smoke hanging over the city. Troops patrolling the streets called the people to stop looting or be shot on sight. The Egyptian Prime Minister, Nokrashy Pasha, flew to' Alexandria today to supervise military operations against the Police. The Police strike also spread to Cairo, and the correspondent described how looters, who were attacking shops, dispersed at once after troops had fired a few shots over their heads. Groups of soldiers, he says, are on guard tonight at key points in Cairo, and at cne point he saw Bren gun posts being set up on the pavement.