American academic stabbed in neck near US Embassy in Cairo

CAIRO, Egypt -- An American academic was being treated in a Cairo hospital Thursday after being stabbed in the neck near the U.S. Embassy, prosecutors and diplomatic officials in Egypt said.

Christopher Stone, a fellow at the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) was attacked outside the perimeter of the building about noon local time (3 a.m. ET), Embassy officials said.

Police immediately apprehended the suspect and he is in custody where he is suspected of attempted murder, the Egyptian prosecutor’s office said.

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Stone’s identity was confirmed by San Antonio-based ARCE. 

Prosecutors said Stone told them he had gone to the embassy to finish some paperwork for his wife when he was challenged by a young man who asked him twice about his nationality.

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The suspect, who is unemployed, then stabbed the victim in the neck, prosecutors said.

According to an online biography, Stone is on sabbatical in Cairo as a research fellow for ARCE. He is associate professor of Arabic and head of the Arabic Program at the City University in New York, according to the biography on the university’s website.

NBC News' Alastair Jamieson contributed to this report.