People hold up a poster showing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during a protest in front of the Syrian embassy in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Feb. 17, 2012. (Photo:AP)
Syrian and Egyptian protesters still camped outside the Syrian embassy on Saturday after Friday protests went home after assurances from Egypt's foreign minister assistant that Parliament would discuss on Sunday whether to expel the Syrian ambassador to Egypt.
Hundreds of Egyptians and Syrian residents in Egypt marched on the Syrian embassy headquarters near Tahrir Square Friday afternoon to demand that Egypt cut ties with Bashar Al-Assad's regime and immediately expel the Syrian ambassador in Cairo.
A number of the protesters promised to camp outside the Syrian embassy headquarters until the ambassador is expelled.
Two foreign ministry assistants, Mohamed Mostafa Kamal and Mohamed El-Badry, along with MP Mamdouh Ismail and Syrian opposition figure, Mohamed El-Moataz, arrived at the embassy Saturday afternoon and promised protesters that the issue of expelling the Syrian ambassador will be discussed in the People's Assembly (Lower House) session on Sunday.
Protesters reportedly suspended the sit-in but vowed to return to the embassy headquarters on Tuesday if their main demand was not met by then.
On Friday, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution that condemns the violence against peaceful civilians by Al-Assad's security forces, calling on Damascus "to stop all violence or reprisals immediately."
Friday's protest was a one in a series of anti-Assad protests in Egypt, as there is wide public support in Egypt for the Syrian uprising.
During the mass rallies in Tahrir Square commemorating the Egyptian uprising's first anniversary on 25 January, a podium erected in the square was wholly dedicated to Syria.
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