Egypt  - Swordfights and scuffles erupted in cities in northern Egypt after motorists queuing up to buy subsidized, scarce gasoline lost their tempers, a local newspaper reported Monday.

In several such incidents in the coastal city of Alexandria, scuffles broke out in petrol stations among motorists fighting to be served first, culminating in a swordfight in case, the independent daily al-Masri al-Youm said.

Long queues outside petrol stations in Egypt's second largest city reached up to one kilometre in the city centre.

Other cities in the Nile Delta north of Cairo, saw similar quarrels, according to the newspaper.

In May, the Egyptian government raised the prices of unsubsidized, higher-grade types of gasoline but kept unchanged the prices of state-subsidized lower grade fuel, known as 80 octane.

Prices of the medium-grade octane fuel rose from the equivalent of 0.245 cents to 0.330 cents per litre while the highest grade fuel increased from 0.264 cents to 0.349 cents per litre.

This led to an increase in demand for subsidized fuel and created a shortage. The government retains state subsidies on key commodities, such as cheap fuel and bread, to avoid a possible popular uprising, such as the 1977 riots over a rise in bread prices. (dpa)