Obama Says Assad has Missed Chance for ‘Genuine’ Reform

U.S. President Barack Obama said Tuesday that Syrian leader Bashar Assad has missed a series of chances for reform, as he also denounced an attack on the U.S. embassy in Damascus.

Assad, Obama told CBS television, has "missed opportunity after opportunity to present a genuine reform agenda.

"More broadly, I think that increasingly you're seeing President Assad lose legitimacy in the eyes of his people," Obama said.

Washington had made it clear "that what we've seen on the part of the Syrian regime has been an unacceptable degree of brutality directed at its people," the U.S. president added.

He also scolded Syria for allowing pro-regime activists to attack the U.S. embassy, saying that Washington had "sent a clear message that nobody can be messing with our embassy and that we will take whatever actions necessary in order to protect our embassy."

Syria's ties with the United States and France were in a downward spiral four months into a revolt against President Bashar Assad, after pro-regime crowds attacked the embassies of the United States and France.

"We've made that clear to the Syrian government. It's their responsibility -- as it is the responsibility of host nations around the globe -- to provide security for and maintain security for foreign embassies."

However, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said later "things are improving on that front; we do think there is better attention now to our security."

U.S. ambassador in Damascus Robert Ford met Tuesday with the deputy minister for foreign affairs and there was "a much more collaborative tone" in their talks, she said.

Earlier the White House had more firm words about the embassy incident.

"Letting thugs storm the embassy is not acceptable," spokesman Jay Carney told reporters.

"We've made that clear to the Syrian government. It's their responsibility -- as it is the responsibility of host nations around the globe -- to provide security for and maintain security for foreign embassies, in this case, the US embassy."

Carney echoed remarks one day earlier from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who said his violent crackdown on democracy protesters, coupled with the attacks on the western embassies, showed that he "has lost legitimacy" to govern.

The White House spokesman's remarks were made with relations between Syria and the United States in free fall, after pro-regime crowds this week attacked the U.S. embassy and that of its ally France.

Syria's foreign ministry meanwhile accused Clinton of "incitement" and a flagrant interference of the United States in the internal affairs of Syria," as relations continued to spiral downward.

The U.N. Security Council on Tuesday "in the strongest possible terms" issued its condemnation as well, noting that the attacks "resulted in damage to embassy premises and injuries to diplomatic personnel."