EGYPTIAN SCHOLARS UNION SLAMS MILITARY FOR ATTACKING STUDENTS IN AL AZHAR

         Cairo, 16 Dhul Hijjah 1434 / 21 October 2013 ( MINA ) – The Egyptian Scholars Union condemned military action to disperse Egyptian protesters with tear gas which resulted in a student died and dozens of others had to be rushed to the hospital .

          Abdurahman El-Sayid, an Alexandria student died in hospital on Sunday ( 20/10 ) night after getting medical treatment . He was too much inhaling tear gas, Mi’raj News Agency ( MINA )’s Correspondent reported from Cairo.

         Today ( Sunday) has been a big demo at Al – Azhar University located in Madinat Nasr, Cairo, close to the President Anwar Sadat cemetery. When the situation was getting out of control , Egyptian security forces were firing tear gas toward the protesters who have been pushed into the university area.

         Some students who participated in the demonstration were arrested by security forces. Right now, the demonstrators are still surrounded by Egyptian security forces in the university area.

        Similar demonstrations also took place in the other Universities, such as in Zagaziq and Alexandria.

         The day before (Saturday) , dozens of students also protested on the first day of Al – Azhar University. They condemned what they called “military coup” against the elected president Mohammed Mursi .

         Chanting anti-military slogans, students flashed the now-iconic bright yellow ‘Rabaa’ sign in solidarity with hundreds of demonstrators killed in the violent dispersal of pro-Morsi protest camps in Cairo in mid-August.

        The Rabaa al-Adawiya Square have since been heavily guarded by police and army troops.

        The university’s students’ union had earlier said that it would stage protests on campus against the July military ouster of Morsi.

        The union, which is dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood, said that more than 100 university students had died in pro-democracy protests and more than 120 students are detained.

         Study at Al-Azhar University has been postponed for two weeks for what the university administration described as “unfinished” maintenance work.

         But student sources said that the move was taken for “security reasons”, given the fact that most students are supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist parties.( L/K 11/P04/E1)

Mi’raj News Agency ( MINA )