DAMASCUS – Supporters of the regime of Bashar al-Assad have attacked the US and French embassies in Damascus amid large pro-regime demonstrations in Syria’s capital.
Witnesses reported two regime supporters attempting to break into the French embassy, forcing Syrian guards to fire into the air to deter them.
Local US diplomats said the nearby US embassy was also attacked. An embassy official said the ambassador’s residence was targeted as well and blamed a state-influenced television channel for encouraging the attacks.
The US state department condemned the attacks and summoned the Syrian charge d’affaires in Washington to appear at the department yesterday.
“We are condemning the Syrian government’s lack of a quick response and we believe that they have failed to adhere to their international obligations to defend diplomatic posts,” a spokesman said.
No one was injured during the attacks and all staff were accounted for, he added.
In a surprisingly blunt note posted on Facebook before the attacks, US ambassador to Syria Robert Ford suggested the government was behind the violence, including the group that threw rocks at the embassy during an incident on Saturday.
Earlier, hundreds of people had demonstrated outside both embassies following visits by ambassadors to the city of Hama to observe protests.
The Syrian regime has sought to portray the recent visits by Mr Ford and his French counterpart, Eric Chevallier, as evidence of foreign efforts to destabilise the country. The pro-regime demonstrations appeared state-sanctioned, with traffic police clearing the streets of cars and security men in riot gear present but not intervening.
“How ironic that the Syrian government lets an anti-US demonstration proceed freely while their security thugs beat down olive branch-carrying peaceful protesters elsewhere,” said Mr Ford on the US embassy’s Facebook page. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2011