CAIRO
Security forces on Thursday dispersed a number of protests staged by pro-democracy students at several Egyptian universities, arresting an indeterminate number of student demonstrators.
Eyewitnesses said police fired teargas at one student march at Zagazig University in the Nile Delta province of Sharqiya, arresting at least six students.
Similar scenes were seen at Suez Canal University in the northeastern province of Ismailia.
According to a leading member of the pro-democracy "Students against the Coup" movement at the university, several student protesters were arrested after administrative security guards "assaulted" their demonstration.
At Mansoura University, meanwhile, students staged a march to protest the Wednesday arrest of a professor of medicine. Clashes subsequently broke out between protesters and opponents, but no casualties have yet been reported.
Since Egypt's academic year began in September, several universities have been rocked by demonstrations against the July 3 ouster of president Mohamed Morsi by the military.
Al-Azhar University – a traditional stronghold of students affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, the group from which Morsi hails – has seen the most violent protests, with daily rallies often escalating into confrontations between students and police.
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