Syria: Amb. Ford Attacked; Competing U.N. Resolutions

A video has emerged showing U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford being attacked in Damascus ahead of his August 23 unscheduled trip to Jassem. A Syrian TV station owned by Mohamed Hamsho, a brother-in-law of the president’s brother, Maher al-Assad, produced a highly edited segment about the incident. The video shows a supporter of President Bashar al-Assad attempting to wrap the Ambassador with a poster displaying Assad’s face, however the Ambassador’s security personnel quickly whisked him into a van and drove him away unhurt. The Hamsho produced segment described Ford as attempting to lead an anti-regime protest in Damascus. However, Ammar Abdulhamid, a Syrian opposition activist living in Maryland described the segment as “stupid, the plain facts are: as Ambassador Ford observed a loyalist demonstration, some of the demonstrators jumped at him when they recognized him and tried to wrap a poster of Bashar Al-Assad around him, but the Ambassador’s security details managed to rush him safely into his car. There was no anti-Assad demonstration at the time, security in that area is simply too tight.”

Syrian security forces continued their violent crackdown killing seven protesters last night during the Eid al-Fitr holiday. The night before, security forces killed seven in the town of Sermin in Idlib province, there are reports that some locals are describing the killing as the “Sermin Massacre.”

U.N. Security Council Ambassadors met Monday in a closed door meeting to discuss competing resolutions on Syria. Last Friday, Russia introduced a resolution calling for the Syrian government to cease its violence against peaceful protesters and expedite reforms, however it made no mention of sanctions. The U.S. and E.U. resolution circulated earlier this month specifically sought sanctions against the regime. Western diplomats said all 15 council members agreed on the need for action, but will continue debating what should be included in the resolution.

Also on Monday, a Russian envoy met President Assad in Damascus and delivered a letter from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, howver the Kremlin did not disclose the contents of the letter.

Today, the E.U. foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton expressed ”her continued deep concern about the violence perpetrated by the Syrian regime against peaceful demonstrators, human rights activists, and the Syrian people at large.”