Tahrir Square

CAIRO - Fresh clashes between security forces and Egyptian protesters demanding that the military step down broke out Saturday in front of the cabinet building, leaving one man dead, as violence threatened to overshadow next week's parliamentary elections. Meanwhile, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, head of the ruling military council that took power after Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February, met separately with the opposition leader, Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, and presidential contender Amr Moussa, former head of the Arab League.

Greg Porter, the Drexel University sophomore who was arrested by police in Cairo during a pro-democracy riot, returned to the United States on Saturday evening, saying he was "so thankful to be back in Philadelphia. " Porter arrived from Frankfurt, Germany, at Philadelphia International Airport's international terminal shortly after 5 p.m. and was greeted by family and a phalanx of media cameras. Smiling and appearing healthy, Porter spoke briefly, thanking his parents, attorneys, and university and embassy officials, but he did not discuss the actions that led to his arrest.

The Drexel University student who was arrested by Egyptian police after he allegedly threw Molotov cocktails during a pro-democracy protest has been released from the police station where he had been in custody, his attorney said Friday. Theodore Simon, a Philadelphia lawyer representing the family of Gregory Porter, said that "certain necessary administrative steps" that precluded Porter's release from police custody had been resolved and that he expected his client to be on his way home "very soon.

Omar Ashour is a lecturer in Arab politics and director of the Middle East Graduate Studies Program at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, and author of The De-Radicalization of Jihadists: Transforming Armed Islamist Movements CAIRO - "The man who taught me to sacrifice my heart for Egypt is dead," said Vivian Magdi, mourning her fiancé. Michael Mosad was killed in the Maspiro area on Oct. 9, when an armored vehicle hit him during a protest called to condemn an attack on an Egyptian church in the southern Aswan region.

The Drexel University sophomore who was arrested by police in Cairo along with two other Americans after allegedly throwing Molotov cocktails during a pro-democracy protest left Egypt Friday night and was flying home, his attorney said. "I am pleased and thankful to report that Gregory Porter is in the air," said Theodore Simon, a lawyer who has been speaking for the family. Porter, 19, left Cairo Friday evening, he said. He would not release further details of his client's itinerary.

CAIRO - The United States increased pressure Friday on Egypt's military rulers to hand over power to civilian leaders, and the generals turned to a Mubarak-era politician to head a new government in a move that failed to satisfy the more than 100,000 protesters who jammed Tahrir Square in the biggest rally yet this week. The demonstrators rejected the appointment of Kamal el-Ganzouri as prime minister, breaking into chants of "Illegitimate! Illegitimate!" and setting up a showdown between the two sides only three days before key parliamentary elections.

AN EGYPTIAN court yesterday ordered the release of a Drexel University student and two other Americans who had been arrested and interrogated by a prosecutor in Cairo for allegedly throwing firebombs at police during a pro-democracy protest. But the Drexel student, Gregory Porter, 19, of Glenside, Montgomery County, was still in police custody last night, according to Theodore Simon, a Philadelphia-based criminal-defense attorney representing Porter's family. Despite the court order, it was not yet clear when Porter would be freed, Simon told the Daily News last night.

The Drexel University sophomore who was arrested by police in Cairo along with two other Americans after allegedly throwing Molotov cocktails during a pro-democracy protest left Egypt Friday night and was flying home, his attorney said. "I am pleased and thankful to report that Gregory Porter is in the air," said Theodore Simon, a lawyer for the family. Porter, 19, left Cairo Friday evening, he said. He would not release further details of his client's itinerary. The two other students arrested along with his client have also been released and are safe, said Simon.

CAIRO - International criticism of Egypt's military rulers mounted Wednesday as police clashed for a fifth day with protesters demanding the generals relinquish power immediately. A rights group raised the death toll for the wave of violence to at least 38. The United Nations condemned authorities for what it deemed an excessive use of force. Germany, one of Egypt's top trading partners, called for a quick transfer of power to a civilian government. The United States and the U.N. secretary-general have already expressed their concern over the use of violence against mostly peaceful protesters.