Mother says 3 arrested US students leaving Egypt

Mother says 3 arrested US students leaving Egypt

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The mother of one of three American students arrested during a protest in Cairo says they’re preparing to leave Egypt.

Joy Sweeney tells The Associated Press that her 19-year-old son Derrik and two other students are expected to fly from Cairo to Frankfurt, Germany, late today U.S. time.

She says her son will fly from there to Washington on Saturday and then on to St. Louis, where he’ll arrive late Saturday night.

Sweeney says she’s “ecstatic” and plans to make her son a belated Thanksgiving dinner.

The three college students who attend the American University in Cairo were arrested Sunday on the roof of a university building near Cairo’s Tahrir Square. Officials accused them of throwing firebombs at security forces fighting with protesters.

An Egyptian court ordered their release Thursday.