Muslim Brotherhood students protest on campus in Egypt's Mansoura

Ahram Online, Saturday 21 Sep 2013

Muslim Brotherhood members mark first day of new academic term with anti-military protests

muslim brotherhood protests
Members of the Muslim Brotherhood and supporters shout slogans against the military and interior ministry, as they march towards Rabaa al-Adawiya, September 13, 2013. (Photo: Reuters)

A protest was held on Saturday by student members of the Muslim Brotherhood at Mansoura University, in support of ousted president Mohamed Morsi.

Students in the Nile Delta town denounced what they described as the military coup which ousted Morsi in July, and chanted against both the military and the police, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported.

Saturday was the first day of the autumn academic term in Egyptian universities.

According to Al-Ahram, arguments broke out between the protesters and some other students and university employees, after the pro-Morsi students attempted to paint the four-fingered symbol associated with the Rabaa Al-Adawiya protest camp on building walls.

The pro-Morsi protest camp in Cairo was dispersed by security forces in mid-August, leaving several hundred protesters dead. A number of security personnel were also killed in the violence.

Some protesters accused the workers of assaulting them and destroying a camera held by one of the demonstrators.

Sayed Abdel-Khaleq, the university president, told Al-Ahram that he is awaiting a detailed report on Saturday's protest, adding that he was informed that two employees were injured.

"It is necessary that the university not be included in political disputes," he added. 

According to the Facebook page of Students Against the Coup (SAC), several similar protests took place to mark the first day of term. 

In Damietta, Muslim Brotherhood students Abdullah El-Lazaky and Khaled Khafaga were reportedly arrested while painting a graffiti image of a colleague who died during the dispersal of the Rabaa protest camp on the walls of the faculty of commerce, reported the group.  

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