The mideast: from bad...

[the_archfiend]

Read this and tell me whether or not the scumbags who undertook this attack somehow qualify as anything other than scumbags in your estimate. I very much doubt they will.

A mob of hundreds of men assaulted women holding a march seeking an end to sexual harassment Friday, with the attackers overwhelming the male guardians and groping and molesting several of the female marchers in Cairo’s Tahrir Square.

From the ferocity of the assault, some of the victims said it appeared to have been an organized attempt to drive women out of demonstrations and trample on the prodemocracy protest movement.

The attack follows smaller-scale assaults on women this week in Tahrir, the epicenter of an uprising that forced Hosni Mubarak to resign last year. Thousands have been gathering in the square this week in protests on a variety of issues - mainly about fears that presidential elections this month will secure the continued rule by elements of Mubarak’s regime backed by the ruling military.

After the marchers entered a crowded corner of the square, a group of men waded into the women, heckling them and groping them. The male supporters tried to fend them off, and it turned into a melee involving a mob of hundreds.

The marchers tried to flee while the attackers chased them and male supporters tried to protect them. But the attackers persisted, cornering several women against a metal sidewalk railing, including an Associated Press reporter, shoving their hands down their clothes and trying to grab their bags. The male supporters fought back, swinging belts and fists and throwing water.

Eventually, the women were able to reach refuge in a nearby building with the mob still outside until they finally got out to safety.