The egyptian embassy in Damascus has succeeded in releasing 12 Egyptian citizens who were arrested by the Syrian authorities for allegedly entering the country illegally, from Jordan. Counsellor Nazia Al-Najari , the Deputy Spokesman of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued here Tuesday that the Egyptian Embassy has secured seats for the released on Egyptair flight pending to carrying them back to Cairo today. Since March 2011, protests in Syria have challenged Assad’s rule. In February, Egypt withdrew its ambassador to Syria to protest a bloody crackdown by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces on pro-democracy protests roiling the country since March 2011. Syria responded in kind.