DAMASCUS, Syria, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- There must be international monitors in Syria to get a firsthand look at the violence unfolding in the country, the U.S. State Department said.
Members of the U.N. Security Council are deliberating over a resolution meant to respond to the ongoing bloodshed in Syria. Veto-wielding Moscow had objected to a resolution, saying patience was needed before intervention.
Victoria Nuland, a spokeswoman for the State Department said that any resolution needed to include international monitors to hold Syrian President Bashar Assad accountable.
"We want a resolution that makes absolutely clear to the Assad regime that the violence needs to end, that must have international monitors in Syria and that there will be consequences," she said.
Damascus charged Washington with supporting "armed groups" in Syria intent on carrying out "acts of violence against the Syrian army."
Questioned during a Monday briefing, Mark Toner, a State Department spokesman, maneuvered around questions regarding whether Washington supported the use of violence by the opposition by saying it was a "matter of self-defense" in a "dynamic" situation.
A source told the official Syrian Arab News Agency that Damascus considered Toner's remarks "irresponsible."
Meanwhile, the U.S. Embassy in Damascus, in a statement posted on its Facebook page, said Ambassador Robert Ford and his aides were assaulted by a crowd of regime backers as they were on their way to meet with "a Syrian political figure."
"Syrian security finally assisted in securing a path from the ambassador's meeting for him and his aides back to the embassy," the message added.
