Egypt Police Enter University to Confront Islamist Demo

Egyptian police entered Al-Azhar University in Cairo on Wednesday to confront Islamist protesters, the first time security forces have moved onto a campus since a 2010 court ruling.

The police took the action at the prestigious Islamic university following a request from its administration, the interior ministry said.

Students supporting deposed Islamist president Mohammed Morsi have held regular and sometimes violent protests since the beginning of the school year in September.

According to the official MENA news agency, the protesting students stormed the university's offices on Wednesday, ransacking them and firing birdshot.

Police entered "the Al-Azhar University campus following a request from the university's head Dr Osama al-Abd to defend lives and public property," said the interior ministry.

The police had obtained permission from the state prosecutor before doing so, the ministry it added.

A police general told Agence France Presse it was the first time police had entered a university since a 2010 court ruling banned guards belonging to the interior ministry from operating on their grounds.

The deputy head of Al-Azhar University has aked police to remain until complete calm returns to the campus, MENA reported.

Pressed by police at every turn, Islamists have adopted universities as protest hubs to galvanize their flagging movement four months after the military overthrew Morsi.

Elsewhere in the country, seven students were wounded in the Nile Delta Mansoura University when Islamists clashed with opponents, a security official said.

And clashes between students were also reported in Zagaziq University north of Cairo.