From Joen Beinin in Cairo:
"The crackdown on Mahalla labor activists is taking a dangerous twist… and this is just the beginning…Ghazl el-Mahalla activist Mohamed el-Attar, who was among the leaders of the 27,000-strong December strike, has been issued a “transfer order” yesterday, and will be re-assigned to the company’s offices in Alexandria. Attar was instructed to move to Alexandria in a period no later than 16 May, or else he’ll be sacked. A number of labor activists have been also internally re-assigned to other jobs in Mahalla.I spoke with Attar, and he said he was told today by his boss Engineer Mohamed Awad that the “order came from up high. It’s above me, and above Mahmoud el-Gebally (the company CEO). State Security does not want you here.”"