EGYPT

Protesting students up pressure on military rulers
Students from the universities of Cairo, Ain Shams and Helwan marched on the Ministry of Defence in Cairo on Tuesday to protest against continued military rule. Students are at the forefront of the strike that began on 11 February and is aimed at pressuring army generals into a swift transfer of power to civil administration.At a recent ceremony at Cairo University commemorating the victims of Egypt’s worst football disaster, students chanted: “Down with military rule. We have killed them with our silence. Time for retribution.” Students in the engineering faculty have reportedly begun a sit-in as part of the strike.
Spurred on by dozens of opposition groups, Egyptians took to the streets in the aftermath of the 1 February football riot that left 74 people dead – including university students – in the north-eastern city of Port Said.
The military has been ruling Egypt since a popular revolt forced autocratic President Hosni Mubarak to step down on 11 February 2011. But the opposition is sharply critical of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, led by Mubarak’s veteran Defence Minister Hussein Tantawi, claiming that it is blocking democratisation.
Several protest groups have accused the junta of orchestrating the football incident, allegedly to incite chaos and prolong its stay in power.
“What happened is a conspiracy to abort the revolution,” said Metwali Abdel Aziz, an engineering professor at Cairo University whose son was killed in the football rioting.
“What has happened since 11 February 2011 until now can be blamed on the corrupt loyalists of the Mubarak regime,” he told the commemoration ceremony at Cairo University, Egypt’s biggest public higher education institution.
The incident, which followed many instances of deadly mayhem since Mubarak's overthrow, occurred when hundreds of fans invaded the pitch following a game between two teams in the local league competition. Police deployed in the stadium stood by as panicked supporters of the visiting team were crushed to death, according to witnesses.
Since the nation’s universities reopened their gates on 11 February after a mid-year break, students at several institutions have stayed away from classes and staged anti-military protests on campuses wearing black badges.
“We announce our participation in complete civil disobedience until the tyrannical military council leaves,” said the student union of the private American University in Cairo (AUC). “We will hold them responsible for what will happen if they decline to immediately hand over power to a civilian authority.”
One AUC student was reportedly among the victims of the football disaster.
Student unions at more than 20 of Egypt’s 36 private and public universities voiced support for the strike call.
“We are joining this general strike until power is transferred, the current government is replaced with a revolutionary council and bringing to justice those responsible for killings and human rights abuses since the start of the revolution,” said the student union at the French University in Cairo, a private institution.
Minister of Higher Education Hussein Khaled has said that classes will not be suspended.
Meanwhile, the board of Cairo University has announced support for the right of lecturers and students to peacefully express their opinions.
“The crucial circumstances being experienced by the nation make it imperative for the political leadership to respond to the people's demands,” added the board in a statement.
In an apparent bid to defuse tensions, the military council has said nominations for the presidential election will be accepted from 10 March. The date of the election has not been set, but it is expected to be held in mid-June, with power transferred to the elected president by July.
“The military responds only under pressure. Its latest move on [the presidential] election is half-hearted,” said Faisal Khalef, a law student at Cairo University.
“The military has not set a clear date for the vote. The generals do not take us seriously. They act as though no revolution has happened in Egypt.”