Inquiry launched into assault on Syrian actress

The Qast el-Nile prosecution office in Cairo has launched an investigation into the alleged assault of Syrian actress Raghda on Wednesday. The 55-year-old actress was verbally and physically attacked at a poetry reading at the Cairo Opera House.  She was reportedly reading a poem supporting the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad when she was attacked.   According to another local website, al-Masry al-Youm, the Cairo-based actress recited one poem entitled “slave market,” depicting how Syrian women are being married off to Islamist Egyptian men to “protect their honor”. In her original police report obtained by local media, the Syrian actress accused Muslim Brotherhood and Salafist youths of attempting to kill her. She said at the time of her attack, she was reading poetry describing Syria’s turmoil, breakdown of law and order, and devastated economy, blaming the death of Syrians on "al-Qaeda which is fighting against Bashar's regime in Syria." Judge Samir Hasan, head of Cairo’s prosecution office has announced that it will summon the actress for questioning sometime in the next few days and carry out an inquiry to identify those responsible.