U.S. citizen stabbed in Cairo tourist area

CAIRO (Reuters) - A U.S. citizen was stabbed and wounded in a popular Cairo tourist area Friday in front of his wife in the second attack on foreigners in the Egyptian capital in less than a week, security sources said.

They said the American, a teacher in an English-language school in the coastal city of Alexandria, had been visiting Islamic Cairo, home to the 14th century Khan el-Khalili market, when he was stabbed.

Police arrested a 21-year-old Egyptian over the attack, and security sources said he was mentally ill and had also attacked a policeman. They said the stabbing had no connection to a bombing earlier this week that killed a French tourist nearby.

A bomb placed under a bench killed a French teen-ager on Sunday and wounded at least 24 other people in a crowded square in the same area of Cairo, where tourists shop for trinkets and sit at outdoor cafes. The area is also home to many Islamic monuments.

That blast was the first fatal attack on tourists in Egypt since bombs killed at least 23 people at an Egyptian resort in the Sinai peninsula in 2006.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either attack. The American who was stabbed suffered light to moderate injuries and was in stable condition, security sources said.

Islamic militants have hit Egypt's tourist industry in recent years through bomb and shooting attacks, though there had been a lull since 2006.

Attacks on tourists are embarrassing for the government, which tries to project an image of security and stability, but the government has faced increasing domestic discontent in recent months by helping Israel to enforce a blockade on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

(Writing by Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Giles Elgood)