France recalls envoy as Syria military targeted

FRANCE recalled its ambassador to Damascus as Syrian President Bashar Assad came under increasing pressure from home and abroad, with army defectors killing at least eight soldiers in a daring attack on the military.

French Ambassador Eric Chevallier was ordered home in the wake of attacks against diplomatic missions and increasing violence stemming from Syria’s 8-month-old uprising.

Pro-regime demonstrators have stormed the diplomatic offices of France, the US and other countries critical of the Syrian government. Syrian forces fired tear gas yesterday to disperse demonstrators outside the Qatari and United Arab Emirates embassies in Damascus.