The U.S. ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, was safe Thursday after being attacked by a pro-government group, a U.S. government official told CNN.

"It was an attack by an armed mob and he is OK," said the official, who was not authorized to speak to the media and did not want to be named.

Ford, who has been outspoken against the Syrian government's use of violence against protesters, is seen by pro-government supporters as an activist more than a diplomat.

Ford sparked a diplomatic firestorm in July when he traveled to the restive city of Hama to express support for demonstrators. He was welcomed with flowers by local residents who had suffered a brutal crackdown by government forces. President Bashar al-Assad's government called the trip an attempt to foment dissent.

Since then, Ford has continued to be seen by some as serving as a traditional diplomat and more as a provocateur.

A crowd tried to assault Ford and embassy colleagues "as they went about doing the normal work of any embassy," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.

"The mob was violent; it tried, unsuccessfully, to attack embassy personnel while they were inside several embassy vehicles, seriously damaging the vehicles in the process," Toner said.

Syrian security officers helped secure a path back to the U.S. Embassy for the ambassador and his staff.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned we she described as "an unwarranted attack" when Ford and his aides were conducting "normal embassy business."

Clinton said it was an "inexcusable assault" that is "clearly part of an ongoing campaign of intimidation."
Comment : well i think that the presidento obama shoul take car about this because if not he is going to show debilities and he will not win the 2012 elections for president on the U.S