The Azhar University Supreme Council's speedy dismissal of the university president following a recent outbreak of food poisoning on campus represented "an indication that Egypt's revolution is on the right path," Mourad Ali, spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, stated on Wednesday. Making the statement on Facebook, the FJP spokesman added, "There is no room for corruption." On Monday, around 500 Al-Azhar students were hospitalised and diagnosed with food poisoning after eating at a cafeteria on the university's campus. The following day, thousands of Al-Azhar students marched from the university's campus in Nasr City to its headquarters in Cairo's Darrasa district to protest alleged negligence by university administrators. On Wednesday, Al-Azhar University President Osama El-Abd, appointed by Egypt's then-ruling Supreme Military Council in 2011, was sacked by the Azhar University Supreme Council as a result of the food poisoning outbreak. Later on Wednesday, the East Cairo Prosecutor's Office summoned El-Abd – along with the general manager of the university dormitory and the university's general manager for nutrition – to answer questions about the incident. In his statement of Facebook, Ali thanked the university council for swiftly meeting students' demands and taking the needed disciplinary measures. "We're awaiting judicial investigations to hold the [Al-Azhar] officials accountable and punish those found guilty of corruption," he said. The university council has called for elections within two weeks to select El-Abd's successor.
