CAIRO — Riot police moved into Egypt's main Islamic university on Saturday, claiming that striking students were disrupting end-of-term exams. They fired tear gas and battled demonstrators in a melee that left one protester dead and an administration building torched, officials and students said.
Police say they entered eastern Cairo's Al-Azhar campus, the site of frequent clashes in recent weeks, and deployed around other Egyptian universities to prevent supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi from intimidating other students trying to take the tests.
Pro-Morsi activists have called for an exam boycott but deny government claims that they threatened anyone.
Students at al-Azhar, a stronghold of Morsi supporters, have been protesting for weeks against his ouster and a subsequent state crackdown, which this week saw his Muslim Brotherhood group declared a terrorist organization.
Read Sunday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.