Egyptian court orders release of 3 US students

Derrik Sweeney, Luke Gates and Gregory Porter, who attend the American University in Cairo, were arrested on the roof of a university building near Cairos iconic Tahrir Square on Sunday. Officials accused them of throwing firebombs at security forces fighting with protesters.Attorney Theodore Simon, who represents Porter, a 19-year-old student at Drexel University in Philadelphia, said his client remained in custody at a police station as of Thursday afternoon Eastern time. But Simon said he was able to speak by phone with Porter, describing the students demeanor as calm and measured, demonstrating a maturity well beyond his 19 years.He was extremely thankful and appreciative for our efforts and the unconditional support of his mother and father, Simon said.Porter is from a suburb of Philadelphia.Sweeneys mother, Joy Sweeney, said she is absolutely elated at the news of her 19-year-old sons release.I cant wait to give him a huge hug and tell him how much I love him, she said, adding that the news of the court order was the best Thanksgiving gift.The 21-year-old Gates is a student of Indiana University. The State Department released a statement saying it was trying to independently confirm the reports of the students release.Earlier Thursday, Egypt officials said the Abdeen Court in Cairo had ordered their release. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media. They did not say when the students would be released.In Bloomington, Ind., a spokesman for Indiana University, said he could not confirm that Gates and the other has already been freed. Mark Land earlier said he had spoken to Gates parents and that they had been told by the State Department that their son has been released.Joy Sweeney said she wasnt sure when her son, a student at Georgetown University, would be returning to their home in Missouri.