Journalists attacked in Cairo

Among the attacks reported,Reuters television said one of its crews was beaten up on Thursday close to Tahrir Square while filming a piece about shops and banks being forced to shut during the clashes.

A Greek reporter was stabbed in the leg by Mubarak supporters and a photojournalist with him was beaten to the head,a Reuters witness said.

The government has resorted to blanket censorship,intimidation,and today a series of deliberate attacks on journalists carried out by pro-government mobs,Abdel Dayem said in the statement on Wednesday.

It listed several reported assaults on or against Egyptian,Arabic and international media during violence sparked when supporters of President Hosni Mubarak charged at anti-government protesters in Cairos Tahrir Square.

The army set up a buffer zone on Thursday between the two sides.

The CPJ said the violence included what it said were plainclothes police attacking the offices of a Cairo newspaper and attacks and harassment of journalists from U.S. and European networks.

The Reuters crew of two people was in Talaat Harb street,which leads to the central square,when they were hit,shoved,threatened and sworn at. Their camera,microphone and tripod were taken and repeatedly smashed. The crew was not injured.

It was not immediately clear who the assailants were.

Meanwhile,The Egyptian military started rounding up journalists,possibly for their own protection,on Thursday after they came under attack from supporters of President Hosni Mubarak who have been assaulting anti-government protesters.

An Associated Press reporter saw eight foreign journalists detained by the military near the prime minister’s office,not far from Tahrir Square,the scene of battles between supporters of Mubarak and protesters demanding he step down after nearly 30 years in power.

Meanwhile,The Egyptian military started rounding up journalists,possibly for their own protection,on Thursday after they came under attack from supporters of President Hosni Mubarak who have been assaulting anti-government protesters.

An Associated Press reporter saw eight foreign journalists detained by the military near the prime minister’s office,not far from Tahrir Square,the scene of battles between supporters of Mubarak and protesters demanding he step down after nearly 30 years in power.