Christians Under Attack

Abdel-Rahman Taher, 46, used a pocket knife to leave a one inch cut on the teacher's face when he attacked him Friday near the famous Khan el-Khalili bazaar, said the state-owned Al-Gomhuria newspaper.

Taher told police after he was arrested Friday that he hated foreigners because of Israel's recent offensive against the Gaza Strip, the paper reported. Opposition newspapers said Taher was recently released from a mental hospital.

The teacher who was attacked was visiting Cairo with his wife from the northern city of Alexandria where he worked at an American school, said the Al-Gomhuria report.

Attacks against tourists are relatively rare in Egypt. But a bomb outside the Khan el-Khalili bazaar killed a French teenager and wounded 24 others on Feb. 22.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the deadly attack. Several experts on Islamic militants said the bombing may have been carried out by extremists angry at what some in the Arab world viewed as Egypt's failure to help Palestinians during Israel's devastating offensive against Hamas in Gaza.

Also Saturday, two boys threw two firebombs into a crowded metro station in Cairo, but they failed to explode and there were no injuries, said a police official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

Police have started a search for the two boys, who fled the scene, said the official. The motive for the attack was unknown.

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