Open-ended strike hits Telecom Egypt

Islam Times: Hundreds of the company's workers began an open-ended strike on Sunday to demand a salary increase.

The protesters accuse the company's authorities of wasting public money in Egypt's sole landline telephone service provider.

Major phone centers in several Egyptian cities have been hit by the nationwide strike although the company said that its service has not been affected by the protests.

The workers held several separate protest rallies last week and urged the government to fire the company's managing board.

The company's CEO, Mohamed Abdel Rahim, is accused of corruption and affiliation with the former regime of ousted Hosni Mubarak.

The protests escalated last week when a group of employees held Abdel Rahim hostage in his offices for hours before special security forces freed him and arrested five employees.

Reports say the government's Central Auditing Organization have launched an investigation into the activities of the company's authorities and detected several breaches related to bonuses disbursed to top officials.