CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — An Egyptian reporter who was shot during clashes a week ago died of his wounds yesterday, his employer said, in the first reported death of a journalist in the chaos surrounding Egypt’s anti-government protests.

Ahmed Mohammed Mahmoud, 36, was taking photographs of fighting between protesters and security forces from the balcony of his home when he was shot on January 28, state-run newspaper Al-Ahram said on its website.

Mahmoud worked for Al-Taawun, a newspaper put out by the Al-Ahram publishing house. He lived near central Tahrir Square, the focal point of protest rallies as well as clashes this week between large crowds of supporters and opponents of President Hosni Mubarak.

The United Nations described brazen assaults on reporters that occurred during this week’s violence as an attempt to stifle coverage of anti-government protests. US President Barack Obama said attacks on reporters, human rights workers and peaceful protesters in Egypt were “unacceptable”.

The Qatar-based television network Al-Jazeera said its offices in Cairo were set ablaze, along with the equipment inside it. The station announced later yesterday that security forces arrested its Cairo bureau chief Abdel-Fattah Fayed and a correspondent Ahmed Youssef.

Mubarak supporters assaulted dozens of correspondents with virtual impunity in central Cairo this week with little intervention from nearby military units.

There were fewer reports of such attacks yesterday, when anti-government protesters staged a mostly peaceful rally in Tahrir Square.

The Egyptian government said reports of “an official policy against international media” were false, and that violence against journalists was unacceptable.