U.N. Security Council scolds Syria

UNITED NATIONS, July 13 (UPI) -- Members of the U.N. Security Council recalled Syria's obligations to take the necessary measures to protect foreign embassies, a German ambassador said.

The French and U.S. embassies in Damascus were mobbed by demonstrators supporting the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad this week. The official residence of Robert Ford, the U.S. envoy to Syria, was stormed as well.

Reports from Syria said the crowds were broken up by Syrian forces and nobody was injured.

Nevertheless, Peter Wittig, the German envoy to the United Nations, condemned the embassy raids.

"The members of the Security Council recall the fundamental principle of the inviolability of diplomatic missions and the obligations on host governments, including under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, to take all appropriate steps to protect embassy premises," he said in a statement.

Germany holds the rotating presidency at the Security Council.

Victoria Nuland, a spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department, said the incident at the U.S. Embassy in Damascus was "extremely concerning."

Critics of the diplomatic effort under way in Syria note the Security Council's silence on the issue. Nuland said Washington was discussing the matter at the United Nations.

"Those discussions will continue," she told reporters. "We continue to feel strongly that that is an appropriate subject for the U.N. Security Council to be active on, and we continue to talk to partners about it."