More than 15.000 students at Mansoura University protested on Wednesday inside the campus to demand the removal of its Mubarak-era leadership. The students held a press conference outside the administration's office, urging the university's recently-elected president, al-Sayyed Abdel Khaliq, to quit his post, and also called for the appointed deans who voted in the elections to resign as well. A coalition formed by the university's students said they decided to continue their demonstrations until their demands are met. They said they would move their demonstrations off campus. Students affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood and the April 6 Youth Movement decided to keep out of the faculty of arts to avoid friction with students supporting its dean, Mohamed Ahmed Ghoneim, as both sides clashed on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the university's acting president, Mohamed Suweilam al-Bassiouny, said studies at the faculty of arts will not be affected by the protests, and denied reports about its closure. He added that the armed forces have secured students' entry to the faculty, and said he had not decreed Ghoneim's removal. The protests at Mansoura University, which broke out on Saturday, coincided with elections for its top post, where 21 appointed deans voted. But the students demand an elections rerun, one which bars deans appointed by the disbanded State Security Investigation Services from voting.
