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Obama calls CBS correspondent assaulted in Egypt

By the CNN Wire Staff
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CBS reporter attacked in Cairo
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • President Obama calls Lara Logan, a White House source says
  • Logan was attacked after Mubarak stepped down on Friday
  • She was saved by a group of women and Egyptian soldiers

(CNN) -- President Barack Obama on Wednesday telephoned CBS correspondent Lara Logan, who was brutally attacked last week in Cairo's Tahrir Square after the resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

A White House official, speaking on condition of not being idenfied, confirmed that Obama called Logan. No other information about the call was immediately available.

Logan, 39, was covering celebrations for a "60 Minutes" story when a frenzied mob of about 200 people surrounded her, her crew and their security team, according to a CBS statement. Separated from the others in the chaos, Logan was surrounded, beaten and sexually assaulted, the statement said.

A group of women and about 20 Egyptian soldiers intervened to rescue the correspondent, the network said.

Logan reconnected with her team and returned to her hotel, CBS said. She returned Saturday to the United States.

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CBS said it would have no further comment and that Logan and her family requested privacy.

Logan, a native of South Africa, began her work with CBS on "60 Minutes II" in 2002 and then moved to the original "60 Minutes" two years later. She was promoted to chief foreign correspondent in 2006 and to chief foreign affairs correspondent in 2008.

Earlier during the Cairo protests, Logan and her crew were detained overnight and interrogated.