Al-Azhar University postpones start of academic year amid protest fears

Egypt’s Al-Azhar University announced on Wednesday that it is postponing the start of the new academic year until after the Eid Holiday in two weeks’ time. This is the second time that the university’s administration has made such a change; the year should have started in late September.

Although officials insist that the move is because of building repairs, observers suggest that the real reason is a fear that students will set off waves of anti-coup demonstrations across the university campus. A large number of Al-Azhar students have been arrested since the coup in July, especially after the massacres in Rabaa Al-Adawiyya and Al-Nahda Squares on 14 August.