Pro-Mubarak demonstrators attack journalists

(CNN) -- Demonstrators who appear to support Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak are targeting journalists for attacks on the
streets of Cairo. A Belgian reporter on Wednesday was arrested,
beaten and accused of being a spy by men supporting the Mubarak regime
in the central Cairo neighborhood of Choubra, according to one news
media watchdog group. An Egyptian reporter was found severely beaten
several hours after a group of men seized him in Tahrir Square,
according to his news organization. Journalists from the BBC, ABC News and CNN were also attacked. Among them were CNN's Anderson Cooper and Hala Gorani. The
attacks have drawn condemnation from advocacy groups for journalists,
one of which accused the Egyptian government of being behind the
attacks.





















































Anderson Cooper details attack in Egypt








































Cooper: I've been hit like 10 times








































CNN anchor describes chaos in Cairo





























RELATED TOPICS

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"The Egyptian government is employing a
strategy of eliminating witnesses to their actions," said Mohamed Abdel
Dayem, Middle East and North Africa program coordinator for the
Committee to Protect Journalists. "The government has resorted to
blanket censorship, intimidation, and today a series of deliberate
attacks on journalists carried out by pro-government mobs." Cooper
said he was hit on the head by a pro-Mubarak demonstrator. Gorani said
she was threatened after getting caught in a stampede of men riding on
camels and horses Wednesday morning. "I got slammed against the
gates and was threatened by one of the pro-Mubarak protesters who was
... telling me to 'get out, get out!' and saying it very close to my
face," Gorani said. "The pro-Mubaraks, whoever they are, whoever sent
them, are being threatening toward camera crews, journalists, anybody
who looks like they may be onlookers. Some of the elements there are
rather thuggish and they seem to be intent on causing trouble." Several
hours later, Cooper said he, CNN producer MaryAnne Fox and a cameraman
were attacked by pro-Mubarak supporters in front of the Egyptian Museum.
At the time, Cooper said, the three journalists were trying to reach a
"no-man's land" between the demonstrators against Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak's regime and the counter-demonstrators. "We never
got that far. We were set upon by pro-Mubarak supporters punching us in
the head," Cooper said. "We turned around and start to walk just calmly.
The crowd kept growing, kept throwing more punches, kicks, trying to
grab us." "It was pandemonium," Cooper said. "Suddenly a young
man would come up, look at you and then punch you right in the face. You
know the instinct is to try to punch back or push back but that just
inflames the crowd more." "All we could do was to just try to walk as quickly as possible, stay together and seek a safe location," Cooper said. Other
journalists who were attacked fared worse. Among them was Al-Arabiya
correspondent Ahmed Abdullah, who went missing for three hours
Wednesday. His editor confirmed late Wednesday that Abdullah had been
found and sent to a hospital to be treated for injuries he suffered when
his captors beat him. In a prepared statement, Jean-Francois
Juillard, secretary-general of Reporters Without Borders said "the use
of violence against media personnel is especially shocking." "These
attacks seem to have been acts of revenge against the international
media for relaying the protests calling for President Mubarak's
resigning," Juillard said. "We urge the international community to react
strongly to these excesses. And we remind the Egyptian government that
it has a duty to apply the law and to urgently restore security for
everyone, including media personnel. In a separate statement,
Reporters Without Borders called for the immediate release of Serge
Dumont, a Belgian correspondent for several European publications,
including Le Soir in his home country. The statement included a partial transcript of a telephone conversation Dumont had with Le Soir editors after he was arrested: "I
was hit several times in the face," said Dumont, according to the
transcript. "They claimed I was pro-Baradei." Mohamed ElBaradei, the
Nobel laureate and former head of the International Atomic Energy
Agency, is one of several opposition figures whose names surface when
protesters talk about possible future leaders of Egypt. Dumont,
according to the transcript, said he was taken to a military barracks
outside Cairo and given a glass of water from the Nile River and told by
his captors that they wanted him to drink it and get diarrhea.
"I
am being guarded by two soldiers with Kalashnikovs (rifles) and
bayonets," said Dumont, according to the transcript. "They say I will be
taken before the intelligence services. They say I am a spy."