On Wednesday, April 20, 2011, the Egyptian cabinet announced that its Minister of Interior Mansūr al-'Isawī would take measures against the "unlawful practices" of protesters in Qena governorate.

Expressing their opposition against Qena's newly-appointed Coptic governor 'Imād Mikhael, protesters had earlier blocked the railway line between Cairo and Aswan. They further threatened to cut water and electricity supplies to settlements at the Red Sea.

The cabinet announced that they would only engage in an earnest dialogue with protesters if demonstrations stopped representing a threat to public safety, utilities and the economy.

Read original text