Egyptian journalist succumbs to gunshot wounds

Cairo, Feb 5 (PTI) An Egyptian journalist, who sustainedgunshot wounds while filming anti-regime protests here aweek-ago, has died, becoming the first scribe to lose his lifein the uprising against President Hosni Mubarak.

Ahmed Mohamed Mahmoud, who worked for state-ownedAl-Ahram newspaper, died yesterday, the local Al-Masry Al-Youmdaily reported today.

He died of gunshot wounds received during anti-governmentdemonstrations on January 29, it quoted medical sources assaying.

New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)said that the journalist was shot while filming thedemonstrations.

The CPJ said that journalists in Cairo faced assaults,detentions and threats as supporters of Mubarak tried toobstruct news coverage of protests against Mubarak.

The pan-Arabic satellite channel Al-Jazeera reported thatMahmoud was the first journalist known to have died in theunrest.

It also said that security agents detained the channel''schief in Egypt along with another journalist.

The head of Al Jazeera Arabic channel in Egypt and ajournalist working for the state-daily Al-ahram were takeninto custody here early today, the channel said.

Al-Jazeera bureau in Cairo was also stormed and destroyedby unknown groups, it said.