Fisk, 55, a veteran foreign correspondent for the London based Independent newspaper, was set upon by a group of around 100 Afghan refugees after his car broke down on the road between the Pakistani border towns of Quetta and Chaman.

``It was a very frightening experience and I am in a lot of pain but I am glad to be alive,'' he told a colleague on the Independent. ``I'm going to bear the scars for the rest of my life. Sadly I broke down in the wrong place at the wrong time.''

The colleague told Reuters: ``He was passing through a village full of refugees who'd just escaped from Kandahar. Robert told me he discovered later that they'd been bombed.

``He said that the sight of two westerners pushing a broken down car attracted a crowd. They were friendly at first but then a child threw a stone which hit him on the head and then the others joined in.''

Fisk suffered injuries to his head, face and hands after being pelted by stones. A spokeswoman for the Independent said Fisk was recovering at his hotel in Quetta.

``Robert says he completely understands why this happened,'' she told Reuters. ``These people were refugees. They've lost everything. Robert says he understands why they're angry. He doesn't hold it against them at all.''

Asked whether Fisk, widely acknowledged to be an expert on the Middle East, would continue to report on the conflict in Afghanistan the spokeswoman said: ``We're expecting Robert to be writing for the Independent on Monday.''

Copyright © 2001 Reuters Limited

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