Cairo: Camel merchants across Egypt have threatened to besiege the buildings of the government and Agriculture Ministry in Cairo with their animals if a temporary ban on their trade is not lifted.

"This ban has harmed the livelihood of thousands of people working in the camel trade, mainly in the provinces of the Red Sea and Aswan," said Hassan Hafez, who heads an association of camel traders.

The Egyptian agriculture minister this month imposed a ban on the trade in camels across the country after a massive outbreak of the foot-and-mouth disease in Egypt. Thousands of cattle have died from the disease, according to veterinary authorities.

40 per cent of local meat needs

However, camel raisers and merchants say that the ban will affect around 6,000 camels supplied to different areas of the country per week, which account for 40 per cent of the local meat needs.

Egypt has been gripped by a series of protests and labour strikes, since Hosni Mubarak's ouster in February last year, to press the government into raising wages or making concessions.