Danish woman assaulted in Tahrir Square

Mob surrounds and attacks woman following Mubarak verdict

The Foreign Ministry has confirmed that a Danish woman was assaulted in Tahrir Square in Egypt during the turmoil following the guilty verdict against former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak on Saturday

The story came to light over the weekend when American photojournalist Cliff Cheney reported via Twitter that he had seen a group of people surround and attack a Danish journalist in a building on Tahrir square.

“I saw it. It looked ugly,” tweeted Cheney. “The group around her became larger and larger, and we were not able to get to her. I asked some Egyptian journalists about what was happening. They told me that it was a Danish journalist.”

Cheney said he did not know the woman’s name, nor could he confirm her nationality. He said that she was blonde and estimated her age as between 25 and 35 years old.

“I hope she’s ok and that it looked worse than it was,” said Cheney.

The Foreign Ministry would neither confirm nor deny that the woman is a journalist. They would only say that a Danish citizen had contacted the Danish embassy in Cairo for assistance. The woman has reportedly been in contact with her relatives.

Anti-Mubarak protesters had gathered in Tahrir Square to protest Mubarak's sentence of life in prison on Saturday for ordering the killing of protesters during the uprising that swept him from power last year. Mubarak and his interior minister received life sentences, but six former police commanders were acquitted.

While reporting on the earlier protests in February of 2011, Lara Logan, a CBS News correspondent, was separated from her team and attacked and sexually assaulted by a mob in Tahrir Square.