3 students from US arrested during Cairo protests

3 students from US arrested during Cairo protests

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Three American students have been arrested during protests in Cairo.

An Egyptian Interior Ministry official says the three were arrested on the roof of an American University of Cairo building, where they were throwing firebombs at security forces fighting protesters in Tahrir Square.

The wave of protests and violence that began Saturday has left 29 dead and thrown Egypt’s politics into chaos less than a week before parliamentary elections were to begin. Tens of thousands of people filled the square Tuesday to intensify pressure on Egypt’s military leaders to hand over power to a civilian government.

Their families and universities say the American students who were arrested are 21-year-old Luke Gates, an Indiana University student from Bloomington, Ind.; Gregory Porter from Drexel University; and a student from Georgetown University.