On 20 May, unidentified gunmen killed three policemen at Al-Azhar University a week before the presidential election. The assailants stepped out of two cars and opened fire on a security checkpoint just outside the university, and also injuring 11 people. The Interior Ministry said the officers had been trying to disperse a student protest in support of former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi. Whereas, Cairo University's Faculty of Engineering student Islam Mohamed died after sever clashes between security forces and pro-Morsi students. Mohamed was shot in the head and stomach. Protesting Muslim Brotherhood students requested university administration and concerned authorities to release their colleagues. During the escalating clashes, angry students were chanting slogans against university administration, police forces and the army. Accordingly, security forces started to use tear-gas bombs to control the violence. Last week saw protests and violent clashes at Ain Shams, Al-Azhar, Alexandria and Al-Mansoura universities, leading to fears of a repeat of last year when exams were interrupted because of violence. At Ain Shams Muslim Brotherhood supporters protested the death of Mohamed Ayman, a student at Faculty of Computer Science. Ayman died as a result of injuries sustained during clashes with security forces in front of the university on 13 May. Angry students vandalised buildings, burned the library and lab, destroyed administrative offices and trashed the dean's office. Hazem Tarek, spokesman of Ain Shams Students against the Coup (SAC), said students pushed their way into the building (but left, without damaging or burning any of the faculty's facilities, to march through the campus. “The march was forcibly dispersed with tear gas and birdshot with minor injuries to some students. There was no news of arrested students,” said Tarek. Police forces have blocked the road leading to Ain Shams University and deployed armored vehicles around the campus to prevent any escalation on behalf of students. Administrative security personnel are screening all cars and students entering the university campus. Mohamed Roushdi, Dean of Faculty of Computer Science, postponed final year exams from 18 to 31 May. “We want to give students a chance to mourn their colleague. The faculty also needs some time to repair the damages in order to be ready to receive students sitting final exams,” said Roushdi. On 15 May students at Cairo University organised marches beginning at the universities' dormitories but were confronted by security forces when they tried to leave the hostels. The campus remains calm, and there is heavy deployment of administrative security at all university entrances. Fourth year pharmacy student Shaimaa Naguib was expelled for two years for writing slogans against the army and police in the first-term exam. At Al-Azhar University students threw stones at police deployed on campus. Women students at the Faculty of Human Studies chanted slogans against the government, the army and the university administration. They were protesting the four year prison sentences handed down to dozens of their colleagues for. Clashes erupted after students gathered inside the campus, calling for anti-government protests ahead of presidential elections on 26-27 May and urging their supporters to hinder the vote. The police fired teargas at the Molotov cocktail throwing crowd. Al-Azhar University board, headed by Osama Al-Abd, announced on 14 May that exams would be delayed and dorms closed from 22 to 30 May, the week of presidential elections. The board said it had taken the decision to avoid protests and clashes at the university. At Al-Mansoura Muslim Brotherhood students set fire to the administrative security building. More than 500 Muslim Brotherhood students took part in violence during which five administrative security personnel were stabbed. Police forces interfered and dispersed the riot with tear-gas. Students at Alexandria University Faculty of Engineering rallied in front of the university on 17 May, burning banners with pictures of the two presidential candidates. Students attempted to march from the campus but after minor clashes with police retreated to university premises to continue their protests. No injuries were reported. Muslim Brotherhood supporters have been staging near daily protests across the country since the beginning of the academic to denounce interim authorities, express support for ousted president Morsi, and call for the release of colleagues detained by security forces. Clashes between pro-Morsi students and security forces have been frequent, with several students killed in the violence. In February the interim authorities issued a decree allowing security forces to enter campuses and granting university administrators the right to expel protesting students.
