Saudi Arabia condemns Syria

DAMASCUS, Syria, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Protesters broke in to the Saudi Arabian and Qatar embassies in Damascus after the Arab League voted to suspend Syria's membership, officials said.

Saudi Arabia condemned Syria for failing to take the necessary steps to protect its embassy, the BBC said Sunday.

"The Saudi government strongly condemns this incident and holds the Syrian authorities responsible for the security and protection of all Saudi interests," a statement issued by the Saudi Foreign Ministry said.

Hundreds of supporters of President Bashar Assad's regime smashed windows and ransacked the embassies in Damascus Saturday, the British network Sky News reported.

In one incident, protesters entered the Qatari embassy compound and pulled down the flag replacing it with a Syrian one, Sky News said.

A crowd of some 1,000 armed with sticks and knives attacked the Turkish and French embassies in Damascus Saturday night, the Turkish daily Today's Zaman said. Protests also occurred outside the Turkish consulate building in Latakia and also in Aleppo where demonstrated entered the consulate garden and attempted to take down the Turkish flag.

The newspaper said no Turkish diplomats were injured in the incident, however, the paper quoted the private Cihan news agency saying Turkey is evacuating most of its diplomatic staff in Damascus and Aleppo, citing security reasons.

Eighteen member states of the Arab League chaired by Qatar voted Saturday to suspend Syria from its meetings and impose sanctions in response to the Syrian government's crackdown on anti-regime protesters, killing more than 3,500 people since March.

Syria, Lebanon and Yemen opposed the vote and Iraq abstained.