An attacker stabbed a U.S. citizen in front of his wife in a popular Cairo tourist area on Friday in the second attack on foreigners in the Egyptian capital in less than a week, security sources said.They said the American, a teacher in his fifties in an American school in the coastal city of Alexandria, was with his wife and a friend when he was lightly wounded in an unprovoked attack in a tourist area that is home to the 14th century Khan el-Khalili market.
The assailant, who was arrested at the scene, told police he attacked the American out of hatred for foreigners, particularly after Israel's recent offensive on the Gaza Strip, one security source and state media said.
The Egyptian government, a strong ally of Washington, has faced heightened domestic discontent in recent months over its enforcement of an Israeli blockade on Hamas-run Gaza, especially during an Israeli invasion that ended on January 18.
Police were alerted to the attack on the American by his wife's screams, witnesses said. State news agency MENA said the American had suffered a superficial wound to his face and that police stopped the attacker before he could inflict further damage.
Security sources described him as mentally ill and said he also attacked a policeman who tried to arrest him. They said the stabbing had no connection to a bombing earlier this week that killed a French tourist nearby.