Two separate demonstrations were staged before the parliament building in Cairo on Sunday. The first was organized by residents of Sadat City north of Cairo, who have been threatened with eviction from their homes after failing to meet monthly mortgage installments. The second protest was staged by teaching assistants (TAs) at Cairo's Ain Shams University, who object to a recent university decision confining them to administrative - rather than academic - work. Both groups of protestors raised banners calling for the personal intervention of President Hosni Mubarak and other leading officials to help resolve their respective grievances. Assistant Housing Minister Hossam el-Demerdash has stated that the ministry cannot simply write off citizens' outstanding mortgage debts before its legal affairs department had first studied the issue. As for aggrieved TAs, they claim that university administrators have refused to acknowledge an official extension of the five-year period during which they are expected to complete their masters' degrees. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
