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AFP
Tunisian police on Tuesday ended a weeks-long sit-in by conservative Muslims at a university that banned the full-face veil, a university official said.

"At my request, the state prosecutor came here this afternoon to observe the situation and the 'sit-iners' were removed by the police," said Habib Kazdaghli, dean of the faculty of letters at Manouba, about 25 kilometres (15 miles) from Tunis.

Since November 28, a group of students who were for the most part not enrolled at the university had camped out to demand the right for women students to wear the full veil, known as the niqab. They also demanded a place of prayer on campus.

The university banned the niqab over security concerns if students were concealed from head to toe.

Though some protesters called off the sit-in earlier this month, it was soon reinstated in the university's administrative offices, Kazdaghli said.

Mohamed Bakhti, a spokesman for the sit-in, said they decided not to resist the police in order not to "end our fight for the niqab," adding that they would decide on the next steps for their movement.

The removal of the demonstrators by police came on the first day of exams amid a tense atmosphere on campus. Some ultra-conservative Muslims, known as Salafists, had attacked the Arabic department, breaking down the door and insulting the teachers, according to witnesses.

Manouba university has some 13,000 students and is considered as leftist bastion in Tunisia.

University officials have been frustrated by the government's "inertia" in responding to the protests.

On Monday, moderate Islamist Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali made note of the problem in a speech to the country's constituent assembly, saying he would "apply the law" against the "savage sit-ins", especially at the universities.

The Salafists have increased in profile since last year's overthrow of strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, as part of the Arab Spring uprisings.