EGYPT: Mubarak-era university president resigns

Maged El-Deeb, president of Ain Shams University, has officially submitted his resignation letter to Egyptian Minister of Higher Education Moataz Khorshed, writes Nada Hussein Rashwan for Ahram Online.

El-Deeb's resignation came after the university's professors started a strike on the first day of the autumn term to push for El-Deeb's resignation in order to conduct elections to replace him, as he was appointed under the regime of the country's former president, Hosni Mubarak. Most of the deans in Ain Shams University have also resigned.

Professors, supported by students, are organising a protest movement in several universities across the country to force the government of Prime Minister Essam Sharaf to fire all university presidents and deans who were appointed by Mubarak during his 30-year rule. Sharaf had promised professors last spring that democratic elections on campuses would take place at the beginning of the current academic year, but was forced to withdraw his commitment due to lack of support for that move by Egypt's ruling military council.
Full report on the Ahram site