A reporter for the Arabic daily, Al Sharq Al Awsat, was attacked on Sunday by a group of men while covering a rally in support of an independent candidate for Egypt's parliamentary elections. The incident was the second such attack on a newsperson in Egypt in five days.
Heba Al Qudsy told the AP that a small crowd of "thugs" ran towards her screaming, '"What are you taking photos of?" They then punched her in the nose and stole the camera she was using to photograph the rally.
The reporter then collapsed. Later she filed a complaint with the local Bulak Abu Al Ela district police, accusing supporters of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) for the attack.
Al Qudsy announced that despite the attack, she would continue to cover the election, whose second stage is set for November 20.
On Wednesday, Ahmed Mansour, a reporter from the the Aljazeera station, was also attacked by assailants in Cairo. Mansour later made a public announcement saying that "Egypt should protect its honest sons."
During Egypt's 2000 elections, many similar incidents occurred during the campaigning period.
