Several security-related incidents were reported in Cairo

Several security-related incidents were reported in Cairo over the 27 February - 1 March 2009 weekend. The first incident occurred on 27 February, when an Egyptian national attacked two U.S. nationals who were visiting the Khan al-Khalili bazaar in Cairo's Old City (the site targeted in a bombing on 22 February). The attacker used a pocket knife and only slightly injured one of the U.S. nationals; the injured man is a teacher at an American school in the northern city of Alexandria and was visiting the bazaar with his wife. Authorities apprehended the attacker, who claims he attacked the American because he "hated foreigners because of Israel's recent offensive in the Gaza Strip." Egyptian officials claim he is mentally ill. In another incident on 1 March, two youths threw two firebombs into a crowed metro station in northern Cairo; however, the incendiary devices failed to explode and no one was injured. The incident occurred at the Helmiet el-Zaitoun metro station; the perpetrators threw the devices from a bridge overlooking the station and fled.