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.

Syria on Tuesday accused U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of "incitement" after she said President Bashar Assad has lost legitimacy and the right to remain in power.

"Syria vigorously condemns the remarks of the U.S. secretary of state that amount to further proof of the flagrant interference of the United States in the internal affairs of Syria," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

France renewed its demand that the United Nations Security Council take a stance on the crisis in Syria on Tuesday, after mobs backing President Bashar Assad attacked the U.S. and French embassies.

"France and other European countries have submitted a proposed resolution to the U.N. Security Council, which has been blocked by Russia and China," Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on Europe 1 radio.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged Arab governments to heed popular demands for reform at a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, the presidential website said on Tuesday.

"Today, the people of the region must enjoy equal rights, the right to vote, security and dignity, and no government can deprive them of freedom and justice or refuse their peoples' demands," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying.

Former Defense Minister Elias Murr accused Hizbullah of being part of a Syrian plot to murder him, revealed a leaked U.S. Embassy cable dated November 14, 2005.

The WikiLeaks cable spoke of the then defense minister’s fear that the Hizbullah would adopt a more aggressive position after the release of Detlev Mehlis’ report on the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on December 15, 2005.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned lawmakers against Hizbullah obtaining additional weapons and property because of instability in Syria.

Barak said Monday Israel “made sure to relay to the Lebanese government that it will be seen as responsible,” for any escalation on the border.

Syrian security forces use tanks, bullets and tear gas against anti-regime protesters by day, but by night they are stealthier, targeting dissent using the opposition's own weapon, the Internet.

Demonstrators use social networking sites, notably Facebook and YouTube, to whip up support for protests against President Bashar al-Assad's rule, and also to broadcast footage they say is of the authorities' ensuing crackdown.

The second phase of the indictment in the Special Tribunal for Lebanon will include the names of a number of Lebanese officials close to Syria and other Syrian individuals, revealed British security sources to the Kuwaiti al-Seyassah newspaper.

These names include the four generals, former General Security chief Jamil Sayyed, former head of the presidential guard Mustafa Hamdan, former Internal Security Forces chief Ali Hajj, and former military intelligence chief Raymond Azar.

The number of Syrian refugees in Turkey fell to around 8,500 as hundreds decided to return home over the weekend, Turkish officials said Monday.

Some 238 Syrians went back to their country over the last two days, lowering the total number of refugees in Turkey to 8,579, the country's disaster and emergency management agency said on its website.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday issued a decree naming Anas Naim as the new governor of the central city of Hama after firing Ahmed Khaled Abdul Aziz from the post on July 2, a day after huge anti-regime protests labeled the largest ever.

On July 2 some 500,000 people took to the streets, without security forces intervening, activists said, calling it the single largest demonstration of its kind since the pro-democracy movement erupted on March 15.