The United States said Wednesday that the use of violence by the Syrian opposition plays into the Syrian "regime's hands," adding it did not condone violent acts by either side.
State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner was reacting to reports that Syrian army defectors had attacked a Syrian military intelligence base on Wednesday in one of the most daring raids in eight months of unrest.
Toner told reporters that it was "not surprising" that the opposition is resorting to violence in response to the deadly crackdown by President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
"We don't condone it in any way, shape or form but... it's the brutal tactics of Assad and his regime in dealing with what began as a non-violent movement (that) is now taking Syria down a very dangerous path," he said.
Later on Wednesday, the UAE embassy in Damascus came under attack, an Emirates foreign ministry official said as the Gulf state took part in a meeting in Morocco on ending violence in Syria.
"The UAE condemns the attack against its embassy in Damascus and the Syrian government bares responsibility for the safety and protection of the chancery and the security of its staff," said Jumaa al-Junaibi, quoted by the official WAM news agency.
He reminded Syria's government that international conventions required it to "protect diplomatic missions" on its territory, accusing it of "negligence."
Protesters had also attacked the Moroccan embassy in Damascus on Wednesday, pelting it with eggs and stones as the North African country hosted a Turkish-Arab gathering on the unrest in Syria.
On Monday, Syria's foreign minister, Walid Muallem, apologised for protester attacks on foreign embassies after the Arab League voted to suspend his country from the bloc.
"I, as foreign minister, apologise for this matter," Muallem told a news conference in the Syrian capital, adding that protecting the embassies was part of Syria's responsibilities.
On Saturday, hundreds of angry demonstrators attacked the embassies of France, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
France recalled its ambassador to Syria on Wednesday while the US envoy, abruptly withdrawn last month because of security threats, is supposed to return to Syria in "days to weeks," Washington has said.
