Crisis-weary Icelanders pelt lawmakers with eggs

Icelanders angry about the price debt-burdened citizens are paying for their countrys economic crisis pelted lawmakers with eggs Saturday during a protest at the opening of the new parliamentary session. One legislator was slightly injured.The protesters were demanding the government do more to help households crippled by debt since the tiny countrys banks collapsed in 2008, bringing the economy to a standstill.More than 1,000 people gathered outside Icelands parliament, the Althingi, in central Reykjavik, with some banging pots and pans and hurling food and fireworks at the building. As lawmakers, dignitaries and the countrys president walked to the traditional start-of-term Mass at a cathedral next door, they were hit with yoghurt and eggs.Lawmaker Arni Thor Sigurdsson of the Left Green Movement fell to the ground after being hit on the head by an egg and was helped into the cathedral by colleagues.Police formed a cordon to protect the politicians as they emerged from the church service, but more eggs rained down as they walked back to the parliament building. The protest broke up soon afterward and no arrests were made.Noisy demonstrations have become common in Iceland, a North Atlantic island nation of 320,000 that, until the credit crunch hit, had a fast-expanding economy and one of the worlds highest standards of living.The countrys major banks all collapsed within a week in October 2008, its krona currency plummeted and a series of demonstrations dubbed the saucepan revolution toppled the center-right government.The left-wing coalition that replaced it has also faced protests against plans for debt-slashing austerity measures.While the economy is slowly recovering, many Icelanders took out foreign-currency loans and mortgages during the boom years that they have struggled to repay since the kronas collapse.