3 Egyptians Slain, 51 Jailed as Police and Farmers Clash

Fifty-one farmers were jailed Wednesday after a deadly clash with police over a new law that will sharply raise rents on agricultural land, police said.

Police shot and killed three people during Tuesday’s confrontation with rioting farmers, including a 70-year-old farmer and a 14-year-old boy, the police said. Thirteen demonstrators were injured in the melee.

It marked the first time that Egyptian police have killed demonstrating farmers. Several farmers have been slain in previous clashes with landowners.

Rioting flared again Wednesday as farmers fought with police in the town of El Mahalla el Kubra, 65 miles north of Cairo, police officials said. Dozens of people were arrested after protesters tried to set fire to a farm cooperative, the police said.

Prosecutors in the southern province of El Minya, about 110 miles south of the capital, accused the 51 farmers jailed Wednesday of attacking civilians and police, blocking transportation and conspiring to damage public installations.

The new law, which goes into effect Oct. 1, removes rent controls from agricultural lands, allowing landlords to charge market value for their properties. Annual rents in some cases will double or triple.