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Since 1999, a "black cloud" has appeared every October above the Nile Delta and Cairo, already one the world's most polluted cities. A thick bitter-smelling fog invades the metropolis, reducing visibility and inducing breathlessness and prickling in the throat and the eyes.

Each year, the authorities get lost in contradictory rhetoric, blaming the burning of rice straw in the Delta or automobile emissions, garbage incineration or the unpredictable atmospheric pressure.

"The clouds accumulate right above our heads, threatening our health, and officials have washed their hands of it, pointing fingers at others for the problem," said Ali Ibrahim, editor-in-chief of the governmental daily Egyptian Gazette.

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