America says it may have to close it's embassy. It follows angry
protests in Damascus following Sunday's invasion.

Extra Syrian police have been guarding the compound since Sunday.

Even during the start of the Iraq war the building stayed open,
although the Syrian army stopped protesters getting near the top end
of Abu Rumani street.

The embassy has been without an ambassador for three and a half years.

This is a battle of words. True, eight people died, but everyone knows
Syria is not going to attack America - as it has the right to.

Syria has been invaded. America called it "taking matters into our own
hands". But the real debate is over what Syria is calling it.

On the streets, people are calling this an act of war. But officials
are deliberately steering clear of those two explosive words.

Syria does not want a war, no matter how limited, which is what
America appears to be gunning for.

Instead, they're calling it a war crime. That's telling, because it
frames the attack within the context of what's going on in Iraq. Syria
is making it clear it sees the invasion as a misstep in America's war
on Iraq. It is not an outright invasion.

Syria is as stunned as the rest of the world. It has cracked down on
people crossing the border. It's impossible to travel anywhere near
the border without getting stopped, checked or followed.

And America knows it. It has praised Syria for stopping the flow of fighters.

In Damascus, protection has been stepped up at the US Embassy. And on
the night of the attack there was an impromptu demonstration on the
city centre.

It's been on the cards for years. First it was held up because of
political wrangling in Europe but the head of the European Commission
says he expects a deal in a few months.

Javier Solana is in Damascus meeting the president.

The EU Association Agreement effectively puts Syria in the outer ring
of the EU. It is one step away from membership of the EU.

In 2010 all Association signatories will become part of a free trade
zone with Europe providing a massive boost for Syria's economy justas
the oil runs dry.

Most other EU neighbors have signed yw agreement. Syria is one of the last.

It follows Syria signing up to a high profile part of French president
Nicolas Sarkozy's Mediterranean Union earlier this year.

It's been getting worse. It started a few months ago. As i explained a
few days ago, taxi drivers would pull their seatbelt across as they
approched the traffic lights.

It's all because of the police crackdown.

But over the past few days every time I get in a taxi I hear the same
line - put your seatbelt on. It comes out in an almost pleading,
apologetic voice.

And this is the reason. Anyone who is stopped by the police because
they or heir front seat passenger aren't wearing a seatbelt gets a
2000 lira fine ($40). It's reduced to 1000 lira if they pay within a
week.

One driver complained to me that many old cars just don't has
seatbelts. That doesn't make them exempt. If they're stopped they have
to take their car to a mehanic, get the belts fitted and then go back
to the police to prove they've had it done.

It's becoming routine for drivers and passengers to wear seatbelts -
and not just when they fear they might be caught.

It's all happened very quickly but it might just make a big difference
to life on Syria's roads.

Qabbani - thank you very much for your kind offer. I wasn't in Amman
for long, but maybe next time I'll need your help!

Syria Almighty - yes I heard the story about the Bush letter. But what
struck me as odd was that the story came from just one country. And it
wasn't America or Syria!

Amniyah - lots of photos are coming...it's worth the wait.

Some more live blogging. This time from Coffee and News -
appropriately! - on Jebl Amman. I'm going to tell you what's caught my
eye. It's all subjective.

A lot has changed. The upmarket shopping area of Sweifiyeh is
unregconisable - its massive pedestrian area is impressive. I seem to
remember it as a building site! And the Abdoun bridge is big, bold and
brash.

Shmeisani seems very different too. Two things stuck in my memory of
Amman - one was Frosti the ice cream shop. I struggled to even find it
this time among all the newness surrounding it.

Next, to Jebl Amman, the leafy residential district sitting atop
Downtown. It's as beautiful as I remember. Books@Cafe is still my
favourite spot in town.

People seem angry. Maybe they just don't like me! No one smiles here.
And taxi drivers don't offer cigarettes to their passengers - maybe
that's a Damascene oddity.

There are a lot of public spaces here. Seats on pavements seem to be
well used. But countering that is this place's obsession with the car.

Walking up and down a few of the hills - I can see why.

Live from a streetside cafe in Abdoun, Amman.

I'm jealous that you have so many more Americans - students, workers,
businesses. Not because I particularly like them. Just because it
feels like they are restricting themselves - scared of something they
don't need to be.

Yazan - another Mac user! No, I'm too stubborn to give up my MacBook.
I hate PCs. Although I am grudgingly using them. Do you know where the
Mac shop is? I've heard Mezzeh?

Sharks - yes, the yellow does look very good! Not sure about pink
though! Are you in Damascus?

Amniyah - thanks, I know about all those sites/programmes etc. Do they
work on STE lines as well, or just private lines? If so, what's all
the fuss about 'banning' Facebook about, if everyone knows how to get
round it?

Abu Kareem - EXACTLY my thoughts. If only.

Matt - yes, it is impressive.

Norman - there are plenty of pictures, when I get a fast enough connection.

Does EVERY girl in this city have to be dressed in yellow?

Girls in hijab, with long tight yellow t-shirts. Girls with big hair
in yellow blouses. Girls with blue jeans in - you guessed it - yellow
tops.

Some have black writing, some kind of image, or even a tactically
placed butterfly.

But they're all the same shade. Like someone dumped a huge yellow
paint pot on the city.

I've just been into a cafe in Kasaa (next to Bab Touma), I said one
word, and I was greeted with 'Hello, welcome'.

(Reply to Matt's comment - no, it's Syrian shopkeepers greeting me
this way! I'm having trouble replying to comments in the normal way at
the moment.)

I guess it's always been like this to an extent. White European Arabic
language students are told they will did life easier living with the
Christians.

So they arrive in Damaacus, walk around Bab Touma and read one of the
signs - written in English - advertising a room for rent in an 'Arabic
house'.

What happens is they end up living in a house full of other European
students. Some rarely leave Bab Touma.

They eat in it's restaurants, go out in its bars, and shop in its
streets.

While there's nothing wrong with them being here - in fact it's a very
good thing. There is something wrong with walking up to a shop, as an
Arab and before i open my mouth, I am greeted with 'hello' in English.

This is the best tourist article about Damascus I have seen for a very long time.

It is by London-based NBC journalist F. Brinley Bruton.

She spends a lot of time outside the Old City (yes, there is a Damascus outside the city walls!) and doesn't include the phrase "conversion on the road to Damascus" anywhere in her article.

It is a very thoughtful, original piece. And she clearly has been talking to real Damascenes:

"Someone advised me to not pay too much attention to maps while in Damascus."

"other Westerners tended to look away when we passed. This is the sort of place where tourists appear unwilling to speak to other foreigners, perhaps unwilling to admit that they don’t have the city to themselves."

"Naranj, full of sleek, well-heeled Syrians, has the reputation as the best restaurant in the city."

"The next night we ventured out of the Old City to go to Shameat."

The full piece is here.

McCain's vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin: "building our embassy, also, in Jerusalem, those things that we look forward to being able to accomplish with this peace-seeking nation."

Until now, America's embassy has been in Tel Aviv. Every other country in the world also has their embassy in Tel Aviv (except Micronesia) because they have agreed to wait until the final status of Jerusalem is settled.

Tel Aviv is the de facto capital at the UN. Only Israel - NOT EVEN AMERICA, not even Bush - recognises Jerusalem as the capital.

This is a massive step. There are three main issues in the Palestine-Israel conflict: the refugees, Jerusalem and the settlements.

In 2004, Bush said that some settlements will have to remain - breaking with decades of consistent messages that the settlements will be sorted out in the final status negotiations.

...this time.

Ian Black has been The Guardian's Middle East editor since the legendary Brian Whitaker moved to a different role at the British newspaper. They were big shoes to fill, but Black has done it admirably.

He knows Syria - ok, not as well as Whitaker did - and he treats it with a degree of intelligence most so-called Syria 'experts' don't.

But in his latest piece he is wrong. Very wrong.

The piece is called Tension grows between Syria and Lebanon after bombings. But the 'Lebanon' position is represented solely by Sa'ad Hariri - a leader on the wane, and certainly not representative of Lebanon - maybe part of the Sunni sect.

Hariri accuses Syria of "infiltrating extremists to north Lebanon to carry out terrorist attacks targeting the Lebanese army and civilians".

"A "Takfiri" group - standard terminology for al-Qaida".

"The apparent target was a Syrian intelligence office near the Shia shrine of Sayyida Zeynab, where many Iraqi refugees live."

"Syrian opposition sources have claimed that one of the victims was an intelligence officer."

"In Beirut, Hariri denounced the deployment of Syrian troops along Lebanon's northern borders. He urged the international community not to allow Syria to intervene in Lebanese affairs under the guise of fighting extremism."

Syria is the frontrunner for a seat in the IAEA - the International Atomic Energy Association, which is the UN's nuclear body.

It is a straight fight between Syria and Afghanistan. Initially Syria was the only candidate. But under US pressure, Afghanistan and Kazakhstan also put their names down for the Middle East and South Asia seat. Iran also applied.

The IAEA was investigating Syria after the US and Israel alleged it was building a nuclear weapons factory. The IAEA said there was no evidence, following a months-long investigation.

It would be Syria's highest profile role since it was on the UN Security Council six years ago.