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BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian government supporters smashed windows at the
U.S. Embassy in Damascus on Monday, raised a Syrian flag and
scrawled graffiti calling the American ambassador a “dog” in anger
over the envoy’s visit last week to an opposition stronghold,
witnesses said.
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French Embassy security guards in the capital fired in the air to
hold back supporters of President Bashar Assad’s regime who were
also protesting the French ambassador’s visit to the same city,
Hama, in central Syria. Protesters smashed embassy windows and
shattered the windshield of a diplomatic SUV outside the compound.
The French flag was removed and replaced with a Syrian
one.
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“God, Syria and Bashar. The nation that gave birth to Bashar Assad
will not kneel,” read graffiti written outside the embassy. One
witness said three protesters were injured when guards beat them
with clubs. The witness asked not to be identified because of the
sensitivity of the situation.
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There was no immediate word on casualties among protesters at the
American Embassy demonstration.
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A U.S. official said the Obama administration will formally protest
the attack and may seek compensation for damage caused when a mob
breached the wall of the compound before being dispersed by Marine
guards.
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The official said the State Department would summon a senior Syrian
diplomat on Monday to condemn the assault and demand that Syria
uphold obligations to protect foreign diplomatic missions. The
official said no buildings were entered and there were no injuries
to embassy personnel. But the official said the attackers damaged
the chancery building.
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The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was
not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said Syrian security
forces were slow to respond to the attack.
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The Syrian regime called the French and American ambassadors’
visits to Hama last week interference in the country’s internal
affairs and accused the envoys of undermining Syria’s
stability.
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The protests erupted after U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford harshly
criticized the Syrian government’s crackdown on a popular
uprising.
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Some 1,600 civilians and 350 members of security forces have been
killed since demonstrations began, activists say. Syria blames what
it calls “armed gangs” and Muslim extremists for the
violence.
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Hiam al-Hassan, a witness, said about 300 people had gathered
outside the French Embassy while hundreds others were at the
American diplomatic compound.
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“Syrians demonstrated peacefully in front of the French embassy but
they were faced with bullets,” said al-Hassan.
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On Sunday, Ford attacked the Syrian government for allowing
pro-government protests while beating up anti-regime demonstrators.
The pro-Assad protests in Syria are known as “mnhebak,” or “we love
you.”
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“I have not seen the police assault a “mnhebak” demonstration yet,”
Ford wrote on the embassy’s Facebook page. “On July 9, a “mnhebak”
group threw rocks at our embassy, causing some damage. They
resorted to violence, unlike the people in Hama, who have stayed
peaceful.”
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“And how ironic that the Syrian Government lets an anti-U.S.
demonstration proceed freely while their security thugs beat down
olive branch-carrying peaceful protesters elsewhere,” he said. “I
saw no signs of armed gangs anywhere not at any of the civilian
street barricades we passed,” Ford added.
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Monday’s protests coincided with government-organized talks in
Damascus on possible political reforms after four months of
unrest.
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However the talks did not stop Syrian forces from pressing their
crackdown on the opposition.
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Before the embassy attacks, Syrian troops stormed the country’s
third-largest city with armored personnel carriers and heavy
machine guns, a rights activist. At least two people were killed
and 20 wounded in the attacks in Homs, activists said.
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The clashes in Homs in central Syria suggest the Assad regime will
not ease its four-month-old crackdown on the opposition despite
proposing some political changes.
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Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa called Sunday for a transition to
democracy in a country ruled for four decades by the authoritarian
Assad family dynasty. But the talks, which wrap up Monday, are
boycotted by the main anti-government factions and are unlikely to
produce any breakthroughs to immediately end the
bloodshed.
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The two days of meetings, however, were seen as a major concession
by Assad’s regime after the most serious challenge to its
rule.
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In Homs, an activist in the city told The Associated Press clashes
occurred after security forces on Sunday killed the son of an
anti-regime tribal leader. The unrest lasted until 5 a.m. (0200
GMT) Monday.
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Street lights were turned off then troops started entering
neighborhoods, shooting with heavy machine guns atop Russian-made
armored personnel carriers, said the activist, who spoke on
condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisals.
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He said some people cowered in their bathrooms during the height of
the assault. At least one person was killed and 20 wounded, the
activist said.
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Rami Abdul-Rahman, the London-based director of the Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights, also said forces pushed into parts of
Homs.
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