Protesters run during clashes with riot police near the Syrian embassy in Cairo, Tuesday(Photo: Reuters)
Thirteen protesters remain in custody following violent clashes at the Syrian embassy in downtown Cairo on Tuesday evening. A journalist from the Al-Fagr weekly newspaper who was arrested at the scene has since been released.
The protesters were calling for the downfall of the Assad regime.
Among the charges facing the arrested protesters are attacking an embassy and police officers.
Under the 1964 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which is binding on Egypt, all foreign embassies are inviolable and the host country must protect their premises.
The accused protesters have denied all charges.
Clashes started when protesters attempted to break through the cordon in front of the embassy with the aim of taking down the Syrian flag, according to an Ahram Online correspondent at the scene.
Police chased protesters away from the embassy as Molotov cocktails and rocks were thrown.
Activists have organised several demonstrations at the embassy to protest mass killings by forces loyal to the Assad regime since the Syrian uprising began in March 2011.
The last major anti-Assad protest in Cairo took place at the Syrian embassy in July, when violent clashes broke out between protesters and police as hundreds of protesters attempted to storm the embassy and remove the flag.
Tuesday's clashes left approximately 85 people injured, mostly with minor wounds.
Fourteen soldiers were also injured and two security forces vehicles were destroyed, according to an official source quoted by the state-owned MENA news agency.
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