Moroccans protest soaring food prices

26/09/2007

[File] A police team stands on the sidelines of the Sefrou protest

Protests continued in Morocco over high food prices on Tuesday (September 25th), two days after a sit-in degenerated into riots in the town of Sefrou, where protesters clashed with police and set fire to cars. The protests, the latest of which took place in Rabat, were organised by the Moroccan Association for Human Rights, which has called for more protests later this week.

The protests reportedly aimed to force the government to cancel a 30% increase in the price of bread. The price hike had been announced before Ramadan as a response to the rising cost of grain on the international market. Moroccan Interior minister Chakib Benmoussa called an emergency government meeting on Monday (September 24th), after which the price hike was annulled.