Can you imagine the uproar if this happened in a country that is not an ally of the US? "Egyptian authorities on Sunday arrested 40 people, including politicians and bloggers, for inciting unrest by calling for a nationwide general strike, a security official told AFP. "Forty people have been arrested around the country, including in Cairo and Alexandria, for inciting unrest," the official said, adding that workers had failed to heed the call to strike. Among those detained are opposition leaders including Islamist journalist Mohammed Abdel Qudoos, and Magdi Hussein who heads the Labour party, which has been suspended since 2000 after its mouthpiece published articles critical of the government. Bloggers and members of other opposition parties, including the Nasserist and liberal Ghad parties, as well as from the protest movement Kefaya, have also been detained."

Despite official claims that the strike action had failed, traffic around the country was unusually light for a Sunday, the first day of the Egyptian work week, AFP reporters said.