- Egyptian authorities' decision to cull all pigs in the country, estimated at over a quarter of a million has turned into a whole new war between the minoroty Christians and the dominant Islam nations.
The government went a ahead with the campaign to kills all the pigs in the country, despite the WHO assertation that the current Swine Flu, which has created panic across the world, had no relation to eat pigs or pork products, but was transmitted from human to human.
Police have clashed with pig farmers and several were reported to have sustained injuries, including police themselves, as the riot forces fired tears and used force to break up the protests.
The government has defended its move as also an overdue campaign to deal with the hygienic state of pig rearing, mainly in the slums in Cairo.
However, Chiristian communities have said the move was a deliberate attempt by government to rid the country of pigs, which are said to being mainly consumed by the Christian populations.
According to the officials statements, once the government has cleared all the pig-styes, new cleaner and hygienic rearing methods would be introduced in the country, but this would only be after two years. The government has further reportedly promised pig farmers compensation for the indiscriminate culling.
Christian communities in and outside Egypt have however rejected government proposals saying the swine flu, was being used as an excuse, to intensify the fight against Christianity and the practice of consuming pork and pork products.
The move according to other observers is also likely to affect the meat market in Egypt with the demand for other meat products such as beef likly to shoot up.
Pork and pork products in Egypt are said to be only a limited market amongst the Christian population which makes up only about 10 percent of the country. The move is also said to likely affect jobs, especially with commercially run pig farms, which employ several hundreds of Egyptians.
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