US hits out at Syria over attempted attack on ambassador

The attempt to storm an office in Damascus where the ambassador, Robert Ford, had just arrived, came with the UN Security Council divided over whether to threaten Syria with sanctions.

Opposition figure Hassan Abdelazim, whom the US ambassador had arrived to meet, told AFP that the mob "tried to break down the door of my office, but didn't succeed" during a siege that lasted two hours.

In Washington, Clinton said the United States has raised the attempted attack on Ford at "the highest levels" in Damascus and demanded that Syria "take every possible step to protect" US diplomats.

Clinton also spoke of an "ongoing campaign of intimidation" against not only US diplomats but those from other countries.

Clinton's deputy spokesman Mark Toner said the mob tried to attack Ford and other embassy staff while they visited the opposition leader, seriously damaging US vehicles and "pelting" the visitors with tomatoes.

However, he told reporters neither Ford nor other staff were hurt in the attack and all returned safely to the embassy after Syrian security officers finally came to their aid and cleared a path out of the building.

Toner charged that Assad's regime was behind the incident in what he said amounts to a campaign aimed at intimidating US diplomats as they carry out their duties.

Amid rising US-Syrian tensions, Damascus earlier accused Washington of inciting "armed groups" into violence against its army, which is trying to crush a six-month, pro-democracy movement.

Meanwhile divisions over whether to threaten sanctions against Syria for the government's deadly crackdown held up UN Security Council discussions on a resolution on the crisis Thursday.

European nations and Russia have proposed rival resolutions on Syria, where more than 2,700 people have died in the past seven months, according to the United Nations.

Britain, France, Germany and Portugal insist that any resolution must include at least the threat of sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad.