Egypt police enter top university to disperse Islamist protesters

Egyptian police entered Al-Azhar University in eastern Cairo's Nasr City district on Wednesday to disperse Muslim Brotherhood supporters, official news agency MENA quoted an interior ministry official as saying. For the first time since 2010 court ruling, the police forces were deployed in the university campus upon a request from its chairman Osama el-Abd, the official added. Since the beginning of the academic year, the students supporting the Brotherhood group and demanding the reinstatement of ousted president Mohamed Morsi have been holding protests. On Wednesday, TV footages showed protesting students storming the university's offices and holding its chairman in his office. The chairman requested police intervention to protect the other students' lives and public property after violent acts erupted and birdshots were fired, the official added. The top Islamic education institution in the world is located a few kilometers far away from Rabaa Al-Adawia Square, the main spot for Morsi's supporters where they had camped out before authorities cleared out their sit-ins on Aug. 14. The students attempted to restore the camp, but security forces controlled the situation. Also, in the Delta city of Mansoura, the Islamists kept protesting on regular base, and the president of the Mansoura's university urged on Tuesday the police forces to disperse them and keep the order inside the buildings, but the interior ministry refused it unless prosecution gives orders, fearing allegations that police use harsh means against students. Prime Minister Hazem Beblawi said on Wednesday that security in universities must be restored.