Posted on 02/04/2011 5:50:08 PM PST by Kaslin
CAIRO, Egypt – It was Wednesday afternoon. We were covering the clashes between pro- and anti-government protesters near Tahrir or Liberation Square in Cairo.
A short time after we started our shooting, cameraman Olaf Wiig was threatened by a small group of pro-Mubarak thugs.
We ducked down an alley. It turned out to be a dead end, so we dashed into a nearby building.
At first it was a perfect vantage point to cover the street battle. Then it quickly turned into a battle station for the pro-government side.
Olaf, producer Ibrahim Hezbroun, a Canadian journalist, and myself hunkered down in an apartment in the back of the top floor.
The owner of the apartment, first of many kind Egyptians to help us, offered us shelter.
Just outside the door, the goons were breaking up parts of the hallway’s marble to throw off the roof. As night fell, rocks turned to Molotov cocktails. Gas bombs were being lit, also to be thrown off the roof. We could see the silhouettes of the thugs and their projectiles on the apartment’s glass door.
They did not know we were there.
They’d already ransacked a small hotel on the other half of the floor, terrorizing the people there in a search of “traitors.” We anticipated they could knock down our door, and we would be next.
Still we waited for a turn in events. The anti-government protesters started targeted the building. When a Molotov cocktail smashed through the window of the room we were in, spreading gas over the floor, we decided that was it. We weren’t going to go up in flames. We were going to make a run for it. We rushed down the stairs and out on the street.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
What sucks is this is the second time Olaf Wiig has been put through the wringer. The last time was 7 years ago when he and Fox New’s Steven Centanni were kidnapped in Gaza! Yikes!
Dude-—don’t let the third time be the charm. You’ve used up your Norwiegan cat’s lives man!
President Mubarak is not "perfect", but sure as heck better and more promising to be in Government than most of the protesters.
Jobs, human rights - ALL THAT - needs to be in place. The people need to be treated RIGHT.
.....but President Mubarak, I think, should stay. The other choices and the noodniks in the crowd won't be good for Gov.
Oh so it’s there job to go where they are cracking heads, to get their heads cracked?
I think not. They did not have to go directly into the fighting...they could have stayed at a distance..they CHOSE not too.
Weird, they came back. Guess they aren’t doing their job,eh?
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