Egypt targets last bastion of Muslim Brotherhood dissent, Al Azhar
Reuters – Egypt has moved to curb one of the last bastions of Muslim Brotherhood dissent with sweeping new rules to curtail violent protest at Al Azhar University, among the world’s most venerable centers of Islamic learning.
Egypt has banned the Muslim Brotherhood and jailed thousands of its supporters since July 2013,
As the noose tightened around the Brotherhood, Al Azhar emerged as a hotspot in its battle against Egypt’s new rulers.
Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb said in a meeting on Thursday with the heads of several universities and some ministers that Egypt would not tolerate violence on any university campus, his office said in a statement.
An Interior Ministry official said security forces would carry out patrols around schools and universities during the academic year, the state news agency reported.
The grand mufti, Egypt’s top religious authority, and the grand imam of Al Azhar, have long lent their prestige to those in power and issued religious edicts to back government policy.
With students preparing to return to their campuses this month after the long summer hiatus, the government on Wednesday amended the university rules to discourage renewed unrest.
The new rules state that any student or faculty member who incites, supports or joins in protests that disrupt learning or promote rioting or vandalism will be expelled or fired.
Students have sprayed graffiti on buildings, blocked college entrances and staged strikes, prompting Al Azhar to request police intervention. This in turn has fueled anger among students and professors who say the campus is a sacred space.
Students loyal to the Brotherhood have repeatedly clashed with police inside the campus over the past year, setting fire to tires and throwing rocks to counter teargas.
In May, a week before presidential polls that were won by Sisi, gunmen killed three policemen at Al Azhar.
“The amendments came as part of security measures aimed at frightening and clamping down on the Muslim Brotherhood and all related groups,” said Hassan Nafaa, a political science professor at Cairo University.
“This is their aim and in my opinion security measures will not be enough to deal with the issue,” he added
There was no immediate comment from Al Azhar officials.