INDIANAPOLIS ? One of three American college students arrested during protests in Cairo says he's not taking it as a negative experience and still believes Egypt is "a great country."
Twenty-one-year-old Luke Gates briefly spoke with The Associated Press after his flight landed in Indianapolis. His parents, sisters and two friends anxiously greeted him when he arrived.
Gates was arrested last Sunday on the roof of a university building near Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square. Officials accused him and the other two young men of throwing firebombs at security forces fighting with protesters.
An Egyptian court ordered their release Thursday.
Family also greeted the other two students when they arrived home late Saturday. Nineteen-year-old Derrik Sweeney arrived at St. Louis' international airport, and 19-year-old Gregory Porter landed in Philadelphia a few hours earlier.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
All three American college students arrested during protests in Cairo arrived back in the U.S. on Saturday, three days after an Egyptian court ordered their release.
The mother of one of the students, 19-year-old Derrik Sweeney, was anxiously awaiting her son's arrival late Saturday night at St. Louis' international airport. She said she spoke with him briefly when he landed in Washington, D.C.
"He still hasn't processed what a big deal this is," Joy Sweeney told The Associated Press from the airport. "He has been in isolation. He doesn't have a clue as to what's going on."
Sweeney, 19-year-old Gregory Porter and 21-year-old Luke Gates were arrested on the roof of a university building near Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square last Sunday. Officials accused the young men of throwing firebombs at security forces fighting with protesters.
The protests have been ongoing since Nov. 19, in anticipation of the landmark parliamentary elections in Egypt due to start Monday. On Friday, the crowd grew to more than 100,000 people.
Porter was greeted by his parents and other relatives earlier Saturday evening when he landed at Philadelphia International Airport. Porter took no questions, but said he was thankful for the help he and the other American students received from the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, administrators at the university they were attending, and attorneys in Egypt and the U.S.
"I'm just so thankful to be back, to be in Philadelphia right now," said Porter, who is from nearby Glenside, Pa., and attends Drexel University in Philadelphia.
Gates also arrived in the U.S. late Saturday and was expected back home in Indiana soon, Indiana University spokesman Mark Land said. Gates attends the university, and his parents have declined to talk with the media. Land said he spoke with Gates' father, who said his son was in good spirits.
"He said he was doing very well and he was very excited to be on his way home," Land said. He added that Gates' parents are "really hopeful they can spend a little time with him without having to answer a lot of questions" in the media spotlight.
All three left the Egyptian capital Saturday morning on separate connecting flights to Frankfurt, Germany, an airport official in Cairo said. The three were studying at American University in Cairo.
Joy Sweeney said staff at the school packed her son's bags because he wasn't allowed to return to his dorm room. Waiting for her son had been grueling, she said, but she was grateful he would be home before the holiday weekend was over.
She said she was trying not to dwell on the events of the last week and was ecstatic that her son, a student at Georgetown University in Washington, was coming home. The family is from Jefferson City, Mo., about 130 miles west of St. Louis.
Earlier in the week, she talked about how she put a Thanksgiving celebration on hold because the idea seemed "absolutely irrelevant" while her son still was being held.
"It's been an emotional rollercoaster. I mean, I don't know how to describe it other than that," she said Saturday night. "But I never looked at the worst-case scenario."
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Matheson reported from Philadelphia. Associated Press writers Maggie Michael in Cairo; Andale Gross and Erin Gartner in Chicago; Sandy Kozel in Washington; Rick Callahan in Indianapolis; and Maryclaire Dale in Philadelphia contributed to this report. AP photographer Jeff Roberson contributed from St. Louis.
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