CAIRO airport workers protesting for better pay, textile workers on strike to demand a corruption investigation and residents living by the Suez Canal pressing for the closure of a chemical factory allegedly dumping toxic waste into a lake shows the wave of unrest shaking Egypt has continued.

The military council in Egypt has issued its second statement in three days calling for an immediate halt to all labour unrest.

Industrial unrest unleashed by the turmoil in Egypt continued today despite a warning by the ruling military that protests and strikes were hampering efforts to improve the economy and return life to normal.