Three American exchange students are detained in Cairo for allegedly throwing Molotov cocktails at security forces from the roof of a university building near Tahrir Square, where thousands of protesters demanding a civilian government were clashing with riot police trying to disperse them.

The U.S. Department of State is seeking access to Luke Gates, 21, Derrik Sweeney, 19, and Gregory Porter, 19, who were arrested on Monday, according to an Egyptian official who declined to reveal his name. Parents of the students have yet to personally talk to their children, who are studying Arabic at the American University in Cairo (AUC).

The students were shown on Egyptian state television. The AUC also confirmed the arrest of the three Americans.
Kevin Sweeney, the father of Derrik from Jefferson, Missouri, told CBS News that he is hoping that his son, who studies at Georgetown University, would be released. Derrik's mother, Joy, said she did not believe her son would intentionally throw a firebomb at anyone.

Gates is an Indiana University foreign studies student taking up political science and Arabic in Egypt, according to his father, Bill. He has several Twitter messages describing the violent scenes at Tahrir Square since Saturday, when the clashes began.
In one of his last tweets on Monday, he said that a tear gas was being fired from the AUC campus and school officials are investigating.

Porter is from Drexel University.

Meanwhile, protesters in Tahrir Square insisted that Field Marshal Muhammed Hussein Tantawi, the de facto ruler pending the formation of a civilian government, step down. On Tuesday night, they shouted, "Leave, leave!" after Tantawi announced on state TV that he accepted the resignation of the interim government and will advance the formation of a civilian government to July, according to Al Jazeera.

The clashes have killed 33 people and injured 2,000 since Saturday.