CAIRO
Al-Azhar University on Wednesday decided to suspend the activities of student unions and ban protests on campus, calling on the Interior Ministry to enforce the order.
In a statement, the university administration asked the faculty deans to ask police help to stop attacks on students and buildings or any disruption of the educational process.
Pro-democracy demonstrations have rocked several universities throughout the country since Egypt's academic year began in September.
The most violent of these have been seen at Al-Azhar University's Cairo campus, where the academic year began in October after having been postponed by almost one month.
The administration of al-Azhar University said the ban on protests aims to safeguard the educational process in the university.
The administration called on the Interior Ministry to protect its buildings and enforce its decision to ban the protests, describing attacks on university buildings as "unjustified" and "barbaric".
It said that demonstrations had offended Grand Imam of al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb and University President Osama al-Abd and all faculty deans.
Meanwhile, the "Azhar Students against Coup" movement, which backs ousted president Mohamed Morsi, called for protests on campus on Thursday.
The movement said that the demonstration will be in reaction to the dispersal of Wednesday's student protests and the arrest of protesting students.
Policemen used teargas earlier on Wednesday to disperse a rally staged by pro-democracy students outside Al-Azhar headquarters in eastern Cairo.
"Policemen of the coup have lost their mind, having seen the huge numbers of the students taking part in the protests," the movement said in a statement, a copy of which was obtained by Anadolu Agency.
By Sobhi Mujahid
englishnews@aa.com.tr
