CAIRO, Dec 3 (Aswat Masriya) Egypt’s Minister of Interior Mohamed Ibrahim urged university students not to be misled by "vandals", describing the current situation as a “conspiracy” in a televised press conference aired Tuesday.

“I appeal to students that they wake up and not drift after vandals, I speak to their sense of nationalism,” Ibrahim said, pointing to recent clashes at Cairo University where a freshman student was killed on campus.

Mohamed Reda was shot dead on Thursday during a protest staged by supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood against a verdict issued against 14 female students that sentenced them for 11 years.

Reda's death has sparked protests and a strike by his professors and colleagues.

Ibrahim said that what is going on inside Egyptian universities is a “conspiracy on Egypt and on the June 30 protests to bring back the Brotherhood to the political scene.”

The army has ousted President Mohamed Mursi, who hails from the Brotherhood, following mass protests against his rule on June 30.

“There is no room to discuss the student who died in the most recent clashes, the prosecution’s investigations will have the last word on this,” he said.

The prosecution issued a statement on Monday saying that preliminary investigations indicate that protesters are responsible for his death.

The minister said that he has asked security forces to withdraw from Nahda Square, close by to Cairo University, so as not to clash with students.