The World

A former Egyptian Cabinet minister, who led a crackdown on the fundamentalist Islamic group blamed for the 1981 assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, was shot three times in front of his home in Cairo, police said. Hassan abu Basha, 65, was wounded in what one witness described as a flurry of "indiscriminate and near-crazy" gunfire unleashed by two bearded men. Abu Basha underwent surgery for the removal of three bullets from his right hip and left arm, police sources said. State-run newspapers said he was in satisfactory condition.