French Journalist Stabbed in Tunis

The French government has called on Tunisian authorities to open an inquiry into an incident over the weekend in which a journalist from Liberation was attacked in Tunis.

Christophe Boltanski was beaten, stabbed and robbed by four unidentified assailants near his hotel in the Tunisian capital, after traveling to the country to attend a United Nations information technology summit.

"We have let the Tunisian authorities know, in Paris and in Tunis, that we expect them to shed light on the attack in which Christophe Boltanski, a journalist for the newspaper Liberation, was the victim," the French foreign ministry said in a statement.

The French foreign ministry also said it had requested "to be kept informed of the developments in the inquiry" by the Tunisian government.

In the attack on Boltanski, which took place in the Tunis embassy district on Friday night, the assailants used a pepper spray on him and then gave him a severe beating, according to the newspaper.

Boltanski was stabbed once in the back before one of the assailants said, "That's enough." They left taking his notebook, mobile phone, USB flash drive and other personal belongings.

On the day he was attacked Liberation ran a story by Boltanski headlined "Demonstrators beaten by police in Tunis," in which he described the beating of human rights activists who tried to stage a demonstration in solidarity with seven leading opposition figures who have been on hunger strike since October 18.

Reporters Without Borders, the international body that campaigns for journalistic freedom, voiced outrage at the attack.