Lara Logan at Home After Sexual Assault in Egypt, Gets Call From President Obama

Feb. 16, 2011 — -- CBS News correspondent Lara Logan is resting at her Washington, D.C.-area home with her husband and two children after being sexually assaulted and beaten in Tahrir Square on the day Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak resigned, a close friend of Logan's said.

According to a White House aide, President Obama called Logan this afternoon. The White House did not provide details of the phone call, but Press Secretary Jay Carney reiterated that "violence against journalists was unacceptable, and that the perpetrators of violence needed to be held accountable."

Logan, 39, was released from the hospital Tuesday at about 5 p.m., the friend told ABC News.

Logan, CBS News' chief foreign affairs correspondent, was surrounded by "a mob of more than 200 people whipped into a frenzy" on Feb. 11, according to a CBS News statement.

She was covering the jubilation in Tahrir Square for "60 Minutes" when "she and her team and their security were surrounded by a dangerous element amidst the celebration," CBS News said in the statement, which it posted on its website Tuesday.

"In the crush of the mob, she was separated from her crew. She was surrounded and suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating before being saved by a group of women and an estimated 20 Egyptian soldiers," the statement read.

Logan had reported from Egypt since the protests began. She had been detained by Egyptian police Feb. 4 and forced to leave the country. After arriving in the United States, Logan returned to Cairo Feb. 11, the day she was assaulted.

In an interview with PBS's Charlie Rose before the attack, Logan said the Egyptian Army had labeled her and her crew spies.

"They let us know in no uncertain terms that they were tracking us, that they knew who we were," Logan said in a Feb. 7 appearance. "They photographed us before when we were blindfolded and my colleagues ... were handcuffed."

Logan reconnected with her crew shortly after the assault, returned to her hotel and left for the United States, CBS said in its statement.

Logan is a native of South Africa and has covered war zones for 18 years. She recently spoke about the danger of her job.

"I have to think about my children growing up without their mom," Logan told CBS' "60 Minutes Overtime," a weekly Web show. "I mean, I don't want to think about it. I hate to think about it."

CBS News' Lara Logan Attacked in Egypt

In the days before Mubarak decided to quit, dozens of reporters were targeted by angry supporters of the Egyptian regime. An Egyptian photographer was shot and killed as he took photos of the crowd, a Swedish journalist was stabbed and many international news agencies quickly pulled their crews from Egypt.

Journalist organizations estimated that more than 100 reporters were assaulted, threatened, arrested or improperly detained.

But by the time Mubarak decided to step down, many reporters had returned to the streets and the crowd in Tahrir Square was euphoric.

The three weeks of protests that preceded Mubarak's ouster were notable for the inclusion of women among large crowds of men, a sight uncommon at similar demonstrations in Arab countries for fear of attacks.