One student shot dead and university buildings set ablaze as protesters clash with police in Cairo

Student supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, named a terrorist organisation this week, battled with police before calm ensued and exams continued

Student supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood clash with Egyptian security forces as university buildings are set ablaze (Reuters)

One student has been shot dead and university buildings set on fire as supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood clashed with police in Cairo.

Police say they entered the campus and fired teargas to disperse pro-Brotherhood students who were preventing their classmates from entering university buildings to take exams.

Protesters threw rocks at police and set tyres on fire to counter the teargas. 13 others have been injured.

Police arrested 101 students for possession of makeshift weapons including petrol bombs, the state news agency reported.

The clashes took place at the Cairo campus of Al-Azhar University, a respected centre of Sunni Islamic learning, which has been the site of frequent flared tensions in recent months.

Aya Fathy, a student spokeswoman, disputed the official's claim, saying the students were protesting peacefully.

She said police moved in to break up protesters outside the faculty building, firing indiscriminately at them, and killing student Khaled el-Haddad. Students have denied starting the blazes.

She accused the police of setting the building on fire to blame the protesters and said the security forces were chasing students on campus.

Calm has since returned, and scheduled exams had begun after the morning clashes.

The Muslim Brotherhood, the group to which ousted President President Mohammed Morsi belongs, was named a terrorist organisation by the army controlled government this week.

Following the Brotherhood's designation as a terrorist group, thousands of Brotherhood members have been arrested with more than 250 supporters detained on Friday alone using the new classification.

Officials have warned that anyone joining the group's protests will face stiff prison sentences.