The United States said on Friday it had summoned the Syrian ambassador to Washington in protest after President Bashar al-Assad's supporters tried to attack the US envoy in Damascus.
Ambassador Imad Mustapha "was called in to the State Department ... and read the riot act about this incident," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters.
She added Mustapha's meeting with Jeffrey Feltman, the assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs, took place late Thursday, hours after Assad's supporters tried to attack US ambassador Robert Ford in Damascus.
Mustapha "was reminded that Ambassador Ford is the personal representative of the president (Barack Obama) and an attack on Ford is an attack on the United States," Nuland said.
"He was also asked for compensation for our damaged vehicles," she said, adding "a very strong set of representations were made again about their Vienna convention responsibilities" to protect US diplomats.
Secretary of state Hillary Clinton demanded that Syria "take every possible step" to protect US diplomats after a spokesman said a mob tried to attack Ford and embassy staff as they visited a Syrian opposition leader in Damascus.
Clinton's deputy spokesman Mark Toner said the pro-regime demonstrators seriously damaged US vehicles and pelted the visitors with tomatoes but did not hurt Ford or his staff.
Opposition figure Hassan Abdelazim, whom the US ambassador had arrived to meet, told AFP the mob "tried to break down the door of my office, but didn't succeed" during a siege that lasted two hours.
The State Department said later that Ford "expressed our disgust with this attack, and the Syrian government's failure to prevent it or adequately respond to it" when he met with deputy foreign minister Faysal al-Miqdad in Damascus.
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 normal duties.
Angry mobs stormed the American and French embassies in Damascus on July 11 after Ford and the French ambassador visited the central city of Hama, a flashpoint for protests against Assad's regime.
"In July, we requested prompt and full compensation for damage inflicted on our embassy and other US diplomatic property" following the previous attack on the embassy, the State Department said in response to a reporter's question.
"We continue to demand full compensation from the Syrian government for the damage caused during both attacks," it said.
Ambassador Imad Mustapha "was called in to the State Department ... and read the riot act about this incident," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters.
She added Mustapha's meeting with Jeffrey Feltman, the assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs, took place late Thursday, hours after Assad's supporters tried to attack US ambassador Robert Ford in Damascus.
Mustapha "was reminded that Ambassador Ford is the personal representative of the president (Barack Obama) and an attack on Ford is an attack on the United States," Nuland said.
"He was also asked for compensation for our damaged vehicles," she said, adding "a very strong set of representations were made again about their Vienna convention responsibilities" to protect US diplomats.
Secretary of state Hillary Clinton demanded that Syria "take every possible step" to protect US diplomats after a spokesman said a mob tried to attack Ford and embassy staff as they visited a Syrian opposition leader in Damascus.
Clinton's deputy spokesman Mark Toner said the pro-regime demonstrators seriously damaged US vehicles and pelted the visitors with tomatoes but did not hurt Ford or his staff.
Opposition figure Hassan Abdelazim, whom the US ambassador had arrived to meet, told AFP the mob "tried to break down the door of my office, but didn't succeed" during a siege that lasted two hours.
The State Department said later that Ford "expressed our disgust with this attack, and the Syrian government's failure to prevent it or adequately respond to it" when he met with deputy foreign minister Faysal al-Miqdad in Damascus.
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 normal duties.
Angry mobs stormed the American and French embassies in Damascus on July 11 after Ford and the French ambassador visited the central city of Hama, a flashpoint for protests against Assad's regime.
"In July, we requested prompt and full compensation for damage inflicted on our embassy and other US diplomatic property" following the previous attack on the embassy, the State Department said in response to a reporter's question.
"We continue to demand full compensation from the Syrian government for the damage caused during both attacks," it said.
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