Around 300 activists from various political groups protested Egypt's rising unemployment on Wednesday and called on President     Hosni Mubarak to resign.

Circled by almost the same number of riot police standing shoulder-to-shoulder as well as some pro-Mubarak protesters, demonstrators waved banners and chanted anti-Mubarak slogans in the crowded lower middle class Cairo district of Imbaba.

Dozens of police trucks were stationed in most of the streets surrounding and leading to the protests.

Carrying Egyptian flags and waving a red banner depicting the leftist revolutionary Ernest "Che" Guevara, demonstrators shouted "Oh Hosni Mubarak we are bankrupt. What did you do with our money?"

The unemployment rate is officially 9.9 percent, but unofficial estimates put it as high as 25 percent.

Plainclothes police were interspersed between protesters, discouraging the public from joining in and monitoring journalists covering the protest. Some residents watched the two-hour protest from their balconies, while others stood nearby watching silently.

Mohammed Abdel Rahman, 23, a fruit vendor, said he was too afraid to join in.

"We have to tell the truth, all the country is unemployed and not working ... We want something new to happen," he said.

Others didn't approve of the protesters' harsh criticism of Mubarak.

"What did Mubarak do to them? Everything he's done has been good," said Salah Qutb, 50, who identified himself as a bank manager.

Since Mubarak's surprise announcement on Feb. 26 that he wanted multi-candidate presidential elections, and ordering parliament to make the necessary constitutional changes, pro-reform demonstrations have become an almost weekly event. Political activists complain that Mubarak's reforms are only cosmetic, made to improve his image and ensure his rule.

Mubarak, 77, has been in power since 1981, and is expected to run in upcoming presidential elections expected in September.

PHOTO CAPTION

Activists from various political groups are circled by police as they hold an anti-Mubarak protest in one of the most crowded areas in Cairo, Wednesday July 6, 2005. (AP)