Paris: Media watchdog group Reporters Without
Borders (RSF) condemned as "shocking" attacks in Cairo against
foreign media by partisans of Egypt's embattled president.
"These attacks seem to have been acts of revenge against
the international media for relaying the protests calling for
President (Hosni) Mubarak's resigning," Jean-Fran’ois
Julliard, secretary general for the Paris-based group, said in
a statement.
"They are also designed to silence journalists and gag
news media," he said of attacks reported against BBC,
Al-Jazeera, CNN, Al-Arabiya and ABC News journalists, among
others.
RSF blamed the attacks on supporters of the Egyptian
president, who has faced massive protests demanding his
ouster.
The group said those supporters "were reportedly
accompanied by plainclothes police," and that attacks took
place during clashes in Cairo's Tahrir Square between
Mubarak's supporters and opponents.
Several of the reporters were hit and their equipment
stolen, Julliard said.
RSF urged the international community to "react strongly
to these excesses".
Washington also voiced concern Wednesday about attacks on
reporters in Egypt, while Belgium called for the release of a
Belgian journalist detained by Egyptian security forces who
was also beaten as he covered a protest.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, February 03, 2011, 20:34