CAIRO: Egyptian police yesterday fired tear gas at student supporters of ousted president Mohamed Mursi as they protested near the defence ministry against the new military-installed authorities, state media reported.
The protests by students from Cairo University came as a Muslim Brotherhood-led Islamist alliance backing Mursi called for nationwide strike action.
The Brotherhood, to which Mursi belongs, was designated a “terrorist” group last week by the authorities, which accused it of a bombing north of the capital that killed 15 people.
The Islamist movement denied the accusation.
Egypt’s state-run AlAhram newspaper’s website reported that police used tear gas to disperse the protesting students and arrested some of them.
Police also fired tear gas at a pro-Mursi student protest in the Nile Delta city of Zagazig, the deposed leader’s home town, security officials said.
Pro-Mursi students have staged defiant demonstrations at universities across Egypt, and earlier Wednesday the pro-Mursi Anti-Coup Alliance called for more protests.
“As the students’ strikes succeed in shaking the corners of the coup regime, the coalition of parties, movements and groups defending democracy in Egypt calls for a gradual, decisive nationwide strike,” it said.
AFP
