Egyptian riot police have clashed with stone-throwing pig farmers who were trying to prevent their animals being taken away for slaughter as part of a nationwide cull.

Between 300 and 400 residents of a slum district of Cairo, where mostly Coptic Christian scrap merchants raise pigs, hurled stones and bottles at police.

Anti-riot police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the demonstrators, most of them youths. The demonstrators ransacked a police post and an officer fired warning shots in the air.

At least two protesters were hurt in the Manshiyet Nasr district of Cairo, home to about 35,000 merchants known as the "zabaleen" who raise 60,000 pigs.

"They want to steal our livelihood," said one of the farmers, Adel Izhak, before police started to take control of the district.

Similar troubles broke out in Khanka, north of the capital, security officials said. Police were already repelled from Khanka by stone-throwers on Wednesday after the controversial cull was announced.

Egypt began the cull of the nation's 250,000 pigs on Saturday, despite the World Health Organisation (WHO) saying there was no evidence the animals were transmitting swine flu to humans.

The authorities are calling the slaughter a general health measure. No cases of swine flu, or influenza A(H1N1), have been reported in Egypt, the most populous country in the Arab world.

Crucial income

Egypt's pigs mostly belong to and are eaten by members of the Coptic Christian minority. Islam bans the consumption of pork for the majority Muslims.

The rubbish collectors, who used the pigs to dispose of organic waste and sell off some animals from their herds once a year, say the cull will affect their business and wipe out a crucial source of income.

Although no cases of swine flu have been reported in Egypt, the country has been battling an outbreak of bird flu for three years.

Twenty-six people have died in Egypt from the H5N1 strain of bird flu since it was first identified in early 2006, and the country has seen an increase in cases over the past two months.

The authorities have said it will take six months to carry out the pig slaughter and announced plans to import three machines to raise the culling capacity to 3,000 animals a day.

According to the government newspaper Al-Ahram, authorities plan to pay out 100 pounds ($24) for each male animal slaughtered and 250 pounds ($60) for each female pig.

- AFP