http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5337458.stm 'Attack' on US embassy in Syria
The US embassy in Damascus is reported to have come under attack, with reports of heavy gunfire and loud explosions.
Security forces have sealed off the Rawda area, which houses other embassies, security installations and senior officials' residences.
There has been no official confirmation of developments in Damascus, which has seen sporadic unrest in recent years.
Syria is an authoritarian state where the security forces exert tight control on the population and the media.
A security source told the BBC it is believed Syrian forces may have foiled a bomb attack on the US embassy.
Ambulances and fire engines were seen rushing to the area through the mid-morning traffic.
A BBC correspondent in the region says the reported attack comes at a time of heightened tensions between the Washington and Damascus, with bitterness in Syria over US support for Israeli military action in Lebanon.
The US accuses Syria of supporting the insurgency in Iraq and not doing enough to prevent weapons going to Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
In April 2004, four people were killed in a clash between Syrian police and a team of suspected bombers in the diplomatic quarter of Damascus.
The authorities accused Islamic militants of trying to blow up an explosives-laden car near the Canadian embassy.
