4 Feb 2011

NZ cameraman among media attacked in Egypt

10:12 pm on 4 February 2011

Foreign media covering the political turmoil in Egypt are being targetted by security forces.

Several journalists have been physically attacked, detained and have had their equipment confiscated as protests continue in Cairo.

President Hosni Mubarak says his government is not responsible for the violence and has blamed Muslim Brotherhood, a banned opposition party.

The US called for an immediate end to the attacks, saying the Egyptian government must protect journalists.

On Thursday, Olaf Wiig, a New Zealand cameraman working for Fox News, was injured while covering the protests in Cairo.

Mr Wiig has worked throughout the Middle East and was taken hostage in Gaza for two weeks in 2006.

His family received the news that he and journalist Greg Palkot were attacked and injured by a pro-Mubarak group while they were fleeing an exploding Molotov cocktail.

The family says Mr Wiig has a head injury and broken cheekbone but is expected to make a full recovery. Mr Wiig and Mr Palkot have been evacuated from Cairo but remain in Egypt.

A Radio New Zealand correspondent from Feature Story News says a group of young men stormed the office that she and other journalists from were using.

Meanwhile, a prominent Egyptian journalist has quit her job at the state-run English-language television channel Nile TV in protest at the Mubarak regime.

Shahira Amin told the BBC the channel had been allowed to cover only pro-Mubarak activity and she has had enough.