U.S. ambassador to Syria pelted with eggs: report

Pro-government protesters in Syria on Thursday stoned the convoy of U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford, pelted him with eggs and tomatoes and then tried to break into a building where Ford was meeting with an opposition leader, the Associated Press reports.

A U.S. official told the AP that the crowd trapped Ford inside the building for three hours. Syrian security forces eventually arrived to escort Ford out. The official did not think that Ford was hit with any objects, but could not say for sure.

Ford was meeting with Hassan Abdul-Azim, the head of the outlawed Arab Socialist Democratic Union party.

"Now that security forces are here, I believe his life is not in danger," Abdul-Azim told The Associated Press.

Abdul-Azim told The New York Times that the protestors totaled around 100 people. Abdul-Azim said he and others had to lock gates in order to keep the demonstrators out. The Times reports that Ford was trapped for 90 minutes.

The U.S. embassy in Syria told AFP that Ford had returned unharmed.

"He is back and he is fine," the embassy said in a statement.

As AFP reports, the incident occurred as President Bashar al-Assad's government lashed out at the United States.

"Comments by American officials, notably [US State Department spokesman] Mark Toner, are striking proof that the United States encourages armed groups to commit violence against the Syrian Arab army," the foreign ministry said Thursday.

On Wednesday, Syrian security forces killed at least 17 protesters, and Europeans in the United Nations Security Council moved toward agreement with Russia and China on a resolution urging Syria to stop the violence.