Two Swedish journalists were attacked by an angry mob Wednesday while reporting in an impoverished area of Cairo before a soldier arrested them and held them for several hours, their daily said.

A reporter and a photographer of the Aftonbladet tabloid - who were accompanied by an interpreter and a driver -- were reporting on how the poorest Egyptians found food during the unrest that has rocked the Arab nation.

When the journalists got out of their car to ask a woman rummaging through garbage if they could film her, a mob suddenly formed around the pair.

"The crowd took the car keys and, the driver's SIM card, placed rocks in front of the car wheels and spat in our faces" saying the team was from Israel's Mossad spy agency, reporter Karin Oestman said.

A soldier came to help the journalists, but then refused to release them and threatened them, she added.

"He said that if he killed us right then no one would find us, and ordered us to stay in the car," she said, explaining that the soldier and other troops let them go after a few hours.