Police officers in Suez, north east of Cairo, managed to prevent a man from setting himself alight in protest of his failure to obtain a ration card, security sources said.
Saeed Qaoud, 56, a retired employee at the Suez Cement Company, attempted to immolate himself at 10 AM on Monday morning in front of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) office in Suez, meters away from the governorate's security department, sources said.
Eye-witnesses say that Qaoud cursed the governor, the NDP, and the government, blaming them for his deteriorating financial conditions and failure to obtain a ration card, which he later attributed to uncooperative officials.
Witnesses said he stripped down to his underwear before pouring gasoline over himself, but agents from the security department managed to prevent him from setting himself on fire.
Investigators found that Qaoud is the breadwinner for a family of four.
Qaoud's family said he had been jobless and had approached several official agencies, including the municipal council, the NDP office and the food supply department, as well as submitting pleas to parliament members to be granted a ration card, but all his efforts proved futile.The Qaouds added that they were desperate for a source of income.
Self-immolation has recently become the newest protest trend in Egypt, inspired by Mohamed Bouazizi, a Tunisian jobless man whose suicide in mid-December triggered a major popular revolt that forced president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali to flee the country and seek refuge in Saudi Arabia on 13 January.
Egypt has recorded more than ten self-immolation incidents until now, starting with the case of Abdu Gaafar, a restaurant owner who set himself alight on 17 January in front of the People's Assembly's building, after officials refused to provide him with the share of subsidized bread he needed for his business.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
