Embassy Live Blog

Finland has closed its embassy in Damascus and its officials have left Syria because of the deteriorating security situation there.

The Foreign Minister also urged all Finns to leave Syria on Monday and recommended that all travel to the country be avoided.

The ministry said it has temporarily sent Finnish diplomats to Amman, Jordan, and Beirut, Lebanon, to report on regional political developments. [AP]

Switzerland said on Wednesday it has temporarily closed its embassy in Damascus for security reasons as violence in Syria continued despite growing international pressure on Bashar al-Assad's regime.

"Swiss citizens living in Syria were given due notice that the embassy would be closed and consular services transferred to Beirut," the Swiss foreign ministry said in a statement, citing "reasons of security".

On February 15, Switzerland announced its intention to close the embassy, without a giving specific date.

The Swiss ambassador to Syria was recalled to Bern in August 2011 for consultations and never returned to Damascus.

Then in late November, the foreign ministry urged Swiss nationals to leave Syria as soon as possible.

Some 150 of the 180 Swiss registered with the embassy are still in Syria. The vast majority of Swiss citizens in Syria - 147 people, or nearly 80 per cent - are dual nationals. [AFP]

Protestors stormed Syria's Australian embassy and trashed its lower level, police said on Sunday.

Police said a "number of men forced entry" to the Syrian embassy in Canberra on Saturday evening and "caused extensive damage to the ground floor" of the building.

Three diplomatic staff present at the time barricaded themselves in a back room according to media reports, which said as many as 40 people were involved in overrunning the embassy.

Police were alerted to the incident by a phone call from embassy staff but said the group dispersed before officers arrived.

"We are obviously concerned about it and three staff members from the embassy were present when the men forced entry. However, no one was injured," said superintendent Mick Calatzis.

The attack on the embassy follows similar incidents in Athens, Berlin, Cairo, Kuwait and London. [AFP]

A crowd of Syrians stormed the Syrian embassy in Cairo smashing furniture and equipment and setting fire to parts of the building in protest over the latest bloodshed in the country, an embassy official and a witness have told Reuters on Saturday. 

Rallies have also broken out outside Syrian embassies in Britain, Germany and the United States in response to the ongoing violence in Homs.