CAIRO (AFP) - Gunmen opened fire on a five-star hotel in Cairo near the famed Giza pyramids on Friday, an Egyptian police general said, in what appeared to be a labour dispute.

Interior ministry spokesman General Hany Abdel Latif said the attack was carried out by laid off hotel workers, and that there were no casualties.

The attackers fired birdshot or pistol rounds at the Amarante Pyramids Hotel, he told AFP.

A hotel employee who requested anonymity said the attack happened early in the morning, and that police were investigating.

The official MENA news agency reported police were searching for the laid off workers suspected of being behind the shooting.

The attackers were angered after they were refused entry to the hotel, the agency reported.