Syria condemns US ‘provocation’ amid riot row
Damascus accuses US of interfering in internal affairs after Washington voices anger over attack on its embassy.
Syria has denounced a statement by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in which she said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had lost legitimacy and was “not indispensable”.
Clinton issued the statement on Monday after after pro-government protesters in Damascus attacked the US and French embassies.
“Syria strongly condemns the statements of the American foreign minister … these remarks are provocative and aim at continuing the internal tension,” Syria’s state news agency, SANA, said on Tuesday.
“These statements are another proof of US’s flagrant intervention in Syria’s internal affairs.
“The legitimacy of Syria’s leadership is not based on the United States or others, it stems from the will of the Syrian people.”
The riots were sparked by the US and French ambassadors’ show of support for anti-government demonstrators in their recent visits to the flashpoint city of Hama.
Rula Amin reports from Beirut, the capital of neighouring Lebanon.