Cairo
campus set ablaze as protesters, police clash
Egyptian
student protesters who back the Muslim Brotherhood are accused of torching the
cafeteria of a Cairo university, state media reported.
The
protesting students allegedly stormed the colleges of trade, engineering and
science at Azhar University on Saturday and set fire to its cafeteria,
according to the official MENA news agency.
Authorities
arrested 60 students, the Ministry of the Interior told state-run Nile TV. The
protesters were armed with Molotov cocktails and other weapons, the ministry
said.
One
student was killed in the violence, the Muslim Brotherhood said in a statement.
The
Brotherhood said security forces, "in an attempt to silence any voice of
opposition," fired tear gas, live bullets and birdshot at the protesting
students.
Students
at the university have been on "strike" following the killings of
students and professors by security forces, the Muslim Brotherhood said.
The
clash at the university is the latest in a string of incidents between security
forces and backers of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The
Egyptian government this week declared the Brotherhood a terrorist organization.
The
government has threatened to arrest anyone who attends Muslim Brotherhood
protests or provides financial support to the organization, an Islamist group
which helped propel ousted President Mohamed Morsy to power.
Morsy,
the nation's first democratically elected president, was forced out of office
in July by the nation's military and arrested following widespread protests and
petitions calling for his removal.
Detractors
said he was a tyrant trying to impose conservative values. Supporters called
his removal a coup and a blow to the democratic movement that toppled former
Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak in 2011.
In
clashes in Cairo on Friday, at least three people died and 265 were arrested.
No comments:
Post a Comment