Cairo -
Students backing Egypt's ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi stormed the administrative offices of a state-run university in Cairo on Wednesday, prompting its president to ask for police intervention, reported state television.
Security personnel failed to prevent the students, believed to belong to Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, from breaking into the offices of al-Azhar University and destroying its contents, added the broadcaster. No casualties were reported.
The pro-Morsi students at al-Azhar have been protesting for more than a week now, demanding the reinstatement of the Islamist leader who was deposed by the army in July after massive street protests against his one-year rule.
The president of the university, Osama al-Abd, asked the police to intervene “to protect the people and property at the university from acts of subversion,” according to the report.
The Interior Ministry, which is in charge of security in Egypt, said it was examining al-Abd's request, a security official told the private TV station CBC.
“The ministry has not taken a decision yet on the request, waiting for approval from the prosecution,” added the ministry's spokesman Abdel Fattah Othman.
Police are barred from entering campuses in Egypt under a 2010 court injunction.
Egyptian universities have seen clashes between students backing and opposing Morsi since the academic year began in late September. - Sapa-dpa