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U.S. Embassy attack foiled

Members of an al-Qaida splinter group are suspected in the assault with guns and bombs. Three attackers are killed.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published September 13, 2006

DAMASCUS, Syria - A car pulled up in front of the U.S. Embassy's entrance and three gunmen burst out. Shouting "God is great," they threw hand grenades and fired automatic weapons toward the gate and a Syrian guard post.

At the same time, a pickup, filled with pipe bombs rigged to gas canisters, pulled up to a gate on the other side of the triangular compound.

Syrian guards opened fire. After a 15-minute gunbattle, the three gunmen were dead and the truck driver - who tried to run away instead of detonating his explosives - was wounded and in custody.

Tuesday's brazen, midmorning assault on the embassy in a heavily guarded neighborhood of the capital could highlight the Syrian regime's weakening grip on Islamic militants, who have battled Syrian security forces repeatedly in recent years.

The attack, which also killed a Syrian guard and wounded at least three Syrian security agents, 10 civilians and a Chinese diplomat, also quickly brought to the surface entrenched differences between the United States and Syria, such as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Damascus' ties with Iran and Hezbollah, and the war in neighboring Iraq.

The Bush administration praised Syria's security forces for their professional response but then called on the country to play a constructive role in fighting terrorism.

"I do think that the Syrians reacted to this attack in a way that helped to secure our people, and we very much appreciate that," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.

White House spokesman Tony Snow also thanked Syrian officials and called for Damascus to "become an ally and make the choice of fighting against terrorists."

But Syria responded with a sharp criticism of the United States, blaming its policies in Lebanon, Iraq and the Palestinian territories for increasing Islamic militancy.

"It is regrettable that U.S. policies in the Middle East have fueled extremism, terrorism and anti-U.S. sentiment," the Syrian Embassy in Washington said in a statement. "The U.S. should ... start looking at the root causes of terrorism and broker a comprehensive peace in the Middle East."

It curtly said that Syria "performed its duties" under the Geneva Conventions to protect the embassy.

Anti-American sentiment has been rising across the Middle East since Israel's 34-day blitz of Hezbollah in Lebanon that ended nearly a month ago, on top of turmoil in Iraq that many here blame on the United States.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Tuesday's attack, but suspicion immediately fell on a little-known al-Qaida offshoot called Jund al-Sham, Arabic for "soldiers of Syria."

Syria's ambassador to the United States, Imad Moustapha, said it was too early to say but "it's logically possible" Jund al-Sham was responsible.

If confirmed, it would be the boldest and most sophisticated attack yet by Jund al-Sham.

Jund al-Sham was established in Afghanistan by Syrians, Palestinians and Jordanians with links to slain al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

The three attackers tried to throw their grenades over the embassy's white, 15-foot walls, but none made it over. One blast peppered the wall with pockmarks.

No Americans were hurt, and the embassy, which is in the same neighborhood as President Bashar Assad's office and residence, was not damaged.

The U.S. Embassy has about 40 staffers, but no ambassador. The United States withdrew its ambassador several days after the Feb. 14, 2005, assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in a Beirut car bomb - an attack his supporters blamed on Syria. Damascus has denied any role, but Hariri's killing further soured U.S.-Syrian ties.

Tuesday's attack raised the question of how strong militant groups have grown in Syria - where the highly closed government rarely releases information on security issues, making assessing the terror threat difficult.

Sunni Muslim extremists such as al-Qaida fiercely despise Assad's regime because of its secular ideology and because his father, the late President Hafez Assad, led a crackdown on Muslim fundamentalists that killed thousands in the city of Hama in 1982. They also reject Assad's rule because he belongs to the Shiite Alawite sect of Islam.

Assad has warned of an increasing Islamic threat against his country, saying al-Qaida militants are taking refuge in neighboring Lebanon.

But some opponents have claimed he is hyping the threat to score support with the United States, defuse international pressure and provide a pretext for Syrian meddling in Lebanon. The United States accuses Assad's government of supporting terrorism in its backing of Hezbollah guerrillas and Palestinian militants.

[Last modified September 13, 2006, 06:42:27]