Journalists attacked, detained in Egypt

In multiple incidents, journalists covering Egypt's unrest were pummeled, hit with pepper spray, shouted at and threatened by loyalists to President Hosni Mubarak as the scene at anti-government demonstrations suddenly turned ugly.

"For the first time in the last few days, we can feel what dictatorship really means," said Lara Logan of CBS News, who said she was effectively trapped in an Alexandria hotel.

When a CBS camera crew attempted to take pictures of violence between pro- and anti-government crowds, they were marched back to their hotel at gunpoint, Logan said. The CBS journalists were only allowed to leave without cameras, and were watched wherever they went. Mubarak's opponents were becoming afraid to talk to journalists, she said.

Several reporters told similar stories of what the Committee to Protect Journalists described as a series of deliberate attacks. The New York-based CPJ called on the Egyptian military to provide protection for reporters, AP reports.