Assad has 'lost legitimacy': Clinton

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hit back Monday after Syrian "thugs" besieged the US embassy in Damascus, saying President Bashar Al-Assad was "not indispensable" and had "lost legitimacy."Syria's charge d'affaires was summoned to the foreign ministry in Washington to explain the Assad regime's "outrageous" failure to meet its international obligations to protect foreign embassies."President Assad is not indispensable and we have absolutely nothing invested in him... remaining in power," Clinton said. "From our perspective, he has lost legitimacy. Our goal is to see that the will of the Syrian people for a democratic transformation occurs."Angry mobs besieged the US and French embassies Monday in apparent retaliation for alleged interference in Syrian affairs by the countries' ambassadors, who last week traveled to the flashpoint protest city of Hama.Tensions have been escalating sharply between Damascus and Washington over the Syrian government's fierce response to pro-democracy protests. Activists say 1,300 civilians have been killed and 12,000 arrested since mid-March.US officials have accused Assad's regime of orchestrating protests at foreign embassies for propaganda purposes and to punish the French and American ambassadors for visiting Hama. After a mob stormed the US embassy for the second time in three days, the State Department said the Syrian charge d'affaires Mounir Koudmani had been summoned in place of Ambassador Imad Moustapha, who was on vacation.It was made "clear that we consider that the Syrian government has not lived up to its obligations under the Vienna Convention to protect diplomatic facilities. And it's absolutely outrageous," spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.Nuland defended Ambassador Robert Ford's visit last Thursday to Hama, saying "we categorically reject" accusations from Assad's regime that it was designed to instigate disturbances."The ambassador's trip to Hama made clear to average Syrians -- not just in Hama, but around the world -- that we stand with tho

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