Syrians foil terror attack

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 truck, filled with pipe bombs rigged to gas canisters, pulled up to a gate on the other side of the triangle-shaped compound.

Syrian guards opened fire. After a 15-minute gun battle, 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 left at least 10 civilians and a Chinese diplomat wounded, came amid high tension between Washington and Damascus.

The rapid response by Syrian guards won rare praise from the United States, which accuses President Bashar Assad's government of supporting terrorism in its backing of Hezbollah guerrillas and Palestinian militants.

"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. No Americans were hurt, and the embassy was not damaged.

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.