US, French Embassies in Damascus Stormed By Assad Loyalists

Nancy Pelosi visiting Bashr Al-Assad in 2007. Know them by the company they keep

An angry mob of Syrians loyal to president Bashr Al-Assad attacked the US Embassy on Monday, breaking windows, spray painting graffiti and raising a Syrian flag on US grounds. No embassy personnel were injured in the incident.

The State Department criticized Syrian authorities for their slow response to the incident and accused a Syrian TV station influenced by senior Ba'ath party officials of inciting the attack.

A French Foreign ministry reported that the France's Embassy in Damascus was attacked by a mob of Assad loyalists that forced their way onto the compound using a battering ram as Syrian security forces looked on. The crowd smashed windows on one of diplomatic vehicles and only dispersed after French guards fired warning shots in the air. Three embassy workers were reportedly injured in that assault.

AFP Photo

The attacks against the US and French embassies come a week after US Ambassador Robert Ford and French Ambassador Eric Chevallier visited Syrian opposition leaders in the restive city of Hama.