Syria slams US "provocation"

Syria has denounced a statement by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in which she said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had lost legitimacy and was "not indispensable".

"Syria strongly condemns the statements of the American foreign minister ... these remarks are provocative and aim at continuing the internal tension," Syria's state news agency, SANA, said on Tuesday.

"These statements are another proof of US's flagrant intervention in Syria's internal affairs. The legitimacy of Syria's leadership is not based on the United States or others, it stems from the will of the Syrian people."

Clinton spoke on Monday after after protesters in Damascus attacked the US and French embassies.

Rula Amin reports from Beirut, the capital of Syria's neighbor Lebanon.