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White House says attack on U.S. embassy in Syria "not acceptable"

12 July 2011 21:38 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA.The White House on Tuesday condemned the attacks on the U.S. embassy and its ambassador’s residence in Syria’s capital of Damascus as "not acceptable," while reiterating that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has "lost legitimacy", APA reports quoting Xinhua.

"Letting thugs storm the embassy is not acceptable," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters at his daily news briefing. He added that the U.S. government has told Syria that it has responsibility "to provide security for and maintain security for foreign embassies, in this case, the U.S. embassy."

Echoing a strong statement made by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Carney said that Syrian President al-Assad is "not indispensable" as he has "lost legitimacy."

Speaking at the joint press conference held Monday with visiting EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, Clinton said that al-Assad "has lost his legitimacy. Our goal is to see that the will of the Syrian people for a democratic transformation occurs."

Hundreds of Syrian protesters attacked the U.S. embassy in Damascus on Monday, some of them were able to climb onto the roof, causing some windows broken and several security cameras knocked out. Fruits, vegetables and other things were thrown at the building.

The U.S. ambassador’s residence and French embassy in Damascus also came under attack from angry Syrian protesters, but no major damage was reported.

Meanwhile, Syria’s U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari on Tuesday accused the U.S. and France of distorting and exaggerating facts about the attacks on their embassies in Damascus.

Responding to a statement issued Tuesday by the UN Security Council to condemn "in the strongest terms" the attacks against the U.S. and French embassies, Ja’afari said that Syria sought to protect the embassies, adding that some protesters had been arrested and would be brought to justice.

In Damascus, Syria’s Foreign Ministry slammed Clinton for her " incitement" against the Syrian government and the U.S. interference in the internal affairs of Syria.

Anti-government protests broke out in Syria in mid-March, and the Syrian government blamed them on "foreign conspiracy." The U.S. has imposed targeted sanctions on Syrian President al-Assad and his inner circle for cracking down on protesters.