*to view videos click on the url:* * http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/02/02/egypt.journalists.attacked/?hpt=C1 * Pro-Mubarak demonstrators attack journalists By *the CNN Wire staff* February 2, 2011 5:49 p.m. EST [image: Click to play]<http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2011/02/02/ac360.anderson.attacked.cnn> Camera rolls as Cooper, crew attacked *STORY HIGHLIGHTS*
- CNN's Anderson Cooper and Hala Gorani and other journalists are attacked by demonstrators - A Belgian reporter is arrested, beaten and accused of being a spy - Reporters Without Borders journalist advocacy group condemns attacks *(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 *"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." 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