Over the past few days, journalists have been assaulted, and prevented from doing their jobs. Mustafa El-Menshawy investigates Covering one of Egypt's fiercest parliamentary races has not been easy for some members of the press. Heba El-Qudsy, a reporter for the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, said "thugs" stole her camera while she was covering an independent candidate's rally in Bulaq Abul-Ela on Sunday evening. Five days earlier, Ahmed Mansour, host of a prominent talk show on the Al-Jazeera satellite channel, was brutally beaten by two men in front of his Cairo office, just as he was about to begin interviewing Wafd Party Chairman Noaman Gomaa, the spokesman for the United Front for Change. On the same day, Manar Khater of the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm was prevented from covering voting irregularities that had been reported in Dokki. Paris-based Reporters Without Borders also said Dina Gamil of the financial daily Al-Alam Al-Youm was not allowed to cover the tallying up of votes in Dokki, and that crews working for BBC and Al-Jazeera also faced obstacles while trying to do their jobs. "Attacks on journalists are on the rise," said Press Syndicate secretary Yehia Qallash. "Each incident is followed by flimsy investigations and meagre attempts to bring those responsible to justice." The attacks cast a definite shadow on government promises to allow more freedom of speech, Qallash said. He called the government's line mere "lip service". El-Qudsy filed a complaint accusing supporters of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) of being behind the attack. Mansour -- well known for his fierce, on-air criticism of the Egyptian government -- has chosen not to point fingers until investigations are complete. "After checking my identity twice, two men beat me up in front of the office -- which means the attack was an organised and deliberate crime," the 43-year-old Mansour told Al-Ahram Weekly by phone from Al-Jazeera's Qatar headquarters. He said he had sustained a neck injury from the attack, and that the two men broke his glasses before fleeing. Thirty minutes after the incident, with his forehead and cheek bruised, Mansour appeared live on air. He called on Interior Minister Habib El-Adly to investigate the assault, which Mansour said appeared designed to leave him with a permanent injury. "Egypt should protect its honest sons," he said. Mansour, who has worked for Al-Jazeera since 1997, then proceeded to interview prominent opposition figure Noaman Gomaa, who launched a scathing attack on the government, accusing the ruling party's candidates of violence and vote- buying. "Hosting the programme despite my injuries was embarrassing for the Egyptian security apparatus, which must now seek out the truth," Mansour said. He is scheduled to appear before prosecutors investigating the case today. It has been suggested that the attack may be linked to Mansour's on-air comments after failing to secure an interview with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal El-Shazli last week. The Al-Jazeera host said that El-Shazli had backed out at the last minute after promising to appear on Mansour's show, a comment which may have antagonised El-Shazli. The fact that the attackers allegedly told Mansour to stop criticising Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi, however, made the matter more confusing. Mansour said he has received a great deal of supportive phone calls since the attack took place. Dozens of human rights groups and organisations dedicated to the defense of journalists have also issued statements of condemnations. Many Egyptian and Arab analysts said the attack on Mansour was probably a deliberate attempt to deter other journalists from covering controversial issues. One observer said that the plainclothes policemen permanently stationed in the front of the downtown building housing Al-Jazeera should have -- at the very least -- come to Mansour's defense. In its statement released on Monday, Reporters Without Borders said, "crude and brutal intimidation of journalists should have no place in Egypt." The group called on President Hosni Mubarak "to act to halt this harassment". On 2 November, the same group sent an open letter to Egyptian Housing Minister Ibraham Soliman asking him "to stop harassing journalists". It said that since joining the government in 1993, Soliman has filed 29 libel suits against journalists. The assaults were grim reminders of earlier cases of media harassment. A few months ago, Egyptian police briefly detained eight Al-Jazeera employees after they attempted to broadcast a much-publicised Cairo Judges' Club meeting. On 25 May 2005, 15 journalists (12 Egyptians and three foreigners) were physically attacked during anti-government demonstrations against a constitutional referendum on presidential elections. That attack -- blamed on police and members of the ruling NDP -- triggered a massive wave of local and international fury. The Press Syndicate filed a complaint with the prosecutor-general, and called for Interior Minister Habib El-Adli to be sacked. According to Qallash, the results of the investigation into the incident -- which has come to be known as the "black day" -- have yet to be announced, with no culprits named or brought to justice. "Until serious and thorough investigations take place, and anti-government journalists are no longer harassed, we are bound to see even more black days," predicted a desperate and sad Qallash.
