CAIRO, Sept 11: Egyptian protesters, largely ultra-conservative Islamists, climbed the walls of the US Embassy in Cairo on Tuesday, made their way into the courtyard and brought down the flag, replacing it with a black flag with an Islamic inscription to protest a film attacking the Prophet (PBUH).

Hundreds of protesters marched to the embassy in downtown Cairo, gathering outside its walls and chanting against the film, which was reportedly produced in the United States.

''Say it, don't fear: Their ambassador must leave,” the crowd chanted. Dozens of protesters then scaled the embassy walls, took down the flag from a pole in the courtyard and brought it back to the crowd outside. The crowd tried to burn it, but failing that, tore it apart.

The protesters on the wall then raised on the flagpole a black flag with the inscription, “There is no god but God and Muhammad is his prophet.”

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the US was working with Egyptian authorities to try to restore order. Almost all the staff had left before the embassy was breached, a US official said. Only a few staff members were still inside, as embassy security had sent most staff home early after learning of the upcoming protest. The situation was still fluid, said the official on condition of anonymity.

An official in the embassy in Cairo said the ambassador was out of town.—AP