In 1995 Mark Bruzonsky had a lengthy two-hour exclusive interview with Robert Fisk which then became a series of four MERTV programs, #117-120. These are among the limited MERTV programs available to be watched at this time at MERTV.Org.

A British journalist is recovering after being beaten and pelted with stones by Afghan refugees in Pakistan. Veteran foreign correspondent Robert Fisk, 55, who writes for The Independent newspaper, was set upon after his car broke down as he drove near the border city of Quetta.

Mr Fisk, who suffered facial, hand and head injuries, said: "It was a very frightening experience and I am in a lot of pain but I am glad to be alive.

"I'm going to bear the scars for the rest of my life - sadly I broke down in the wrong place at the wrong time."

The Middle East correspondent was attacked when his car overheated and broke down close to a village housing refugees from Afghanistan.

He got out of the vehicle and was attempting to push it to the side of the road when a group of 40 to 50 people gathered.

"At first they were reasonably friendly but then a little kid threw a stone at me. More stones followed and then I find myself being punched and beaten in the face.

"My glasses were smashed and my spare glasses were ripped away from me. I was covered in blood and couldn't see anything. I was obviously frightened."

Mr Fisk said he fought back and began lashing out at the mob, whose numbers had now swelled to about 100.

He knocked a couple of his attackers to the ground but was then rescued by a Muslim religious leader, who forced the mob back and guided him to a police wagon.

"Without his intervention I would now be dead," he said.

But Mr Fisk said he could understand the refugees' anger, as many had relatives who had been killed by the US bombing of Afghan city Kandahar last week.

"It doesn't excuse them for beating me up so badly but there was a real reason why they should hate Westerners so much.

"I don't want this to be seen as a Muslim mob attacking a Westerner for no reason. They had every reason to be angry - I've been an outspoken critic of the US actions myself. If I had been them, I would have attacked me."

Mr Fisk is not the first UK journalist to be injured since the US-led action in Afghanistan began.

Last month ITV news correspondent Andrea Catherwood sustained minor injuries in a Taleban suicide attack near the Afghan city of Kunduz, which killed three people and seriously wounded a Northern Alliance commander.

BBC reporter William Reeve escaped unhurt when a bomb landed in the building next to his Kabul office.

And eight journalists have been killed - the latest a Swedish TV cameraman shot dead in a believed robbery attempt on his home.

Two French and one German reporter were killed in northern Afghanistan in a Taleban ambush on an opposition convoy.

Mid-East Realities

www.middleeast.org

Source: http://www.middleeast.org/articles/2001/12/493.htm