30/10/2013 18:22
Egyptian police disperse pro-Morsi students at Al-Azhar
Police have entered al-Azhar University in the Egyptian capital Cairo to disperse students protesting in support of ousted President Mohamed Morsi, the BBC reported.
The interior ministry said it had responded to a request for help from university authorities.
Pro-Morsi students had been holding protests at the campus for weeks.
The operation come hours after the arrest of Essam al-Erian, a senior leader in the Muslim Brotherhood movement to which Mr Morsi belongs.
Mr Erian is vice chairman of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the Brotherhood's political wing. Prosecutors had ordered his arrest in July, after the military ousted Mr Morsi.
Officials at al-Azhar were quoted by local media as saying that the protesting students had ransacked university offices before the police intervention.
The interior ministry said in a statement that the action was taken to "protect lives and public property."
The latest moves are part of a crackdown by the interim government against the Islamist movement.