French envoy mobbed in Syria
France’s ambassador to Syria was attacked on Saturday morning in Damascus, the French Foreign Ministry reported, on a day marked by continuing violence between authorities and anti-government protesters in the Middle Eastern nation.
Sixteen people were reported killed Saturday around the country, most of them in Homs, said Rami Abdul Rahman, head of the London-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, citing conversations with witnesses and anti-government activists in Syria.
In the Christian quarter of Damascus’s old city, people threw stones and eggs at French envoy Eric Chevallier after he met with Greek Orthodox Patriarch Ignace IV.
Diplomatic tensions have boiled over Syria’s crackdown on peaceful protesters.France said in July that its embassy had been besieged by demonstrators and faulted Syrian authorities for failing to stop the destruction of vehicles, burning of French flags and other damage.
It summoned Syria’s ambassador to France to issue a formal protest on this matter, and to hold Syrian authorities responsible for the security of French diplomats in the Middle Eastern country.