Thousands of people have held a peaceful demonstration in Damascus against an alleged US raid on a village that Syria says killed eight people.
Thousands of people have marched through Damascus in protest at an alleged US raid on a village that Syria says killed eight people.
Riot police armed with batons and shields surrounded the US embassy in Damascus, which closed due to what it said were increased security concerns.
Many at the government-backed demonstration carried banners, shouted anti-US slogans and waved pictures of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The US state department and the White House have refused to confirm, deny or comment on the alleged attack.
Riot police surrounded the US embassy in Damascus, which American officials closed blaming security fears.
The Syrian government has demanded an apology from Washington.
The Syrian government has demanded that Washington apologise for the incident.
It also threatened to cut off co-operation on Iraqi border security if the US carried out any more raids on Syrian territory.
The US state department and the White House have refused to confirm the alleged attack.
Unnamed US officials said the target of the attack was the leader of a network with links to al-Qaeda, smuggling foreign fighters into Iraq.
Slogans
Damascus said it was doing all it could to stem any traffic of foreign fighters across the long and porous border.
The protesters, including many civil servants and students, converged on the central Youssef al-Azmi square.
Iraq said it would share the results of its own investigation into the raid near Abu Kamal, some eight kilometres (five miles) north of Iraq's border with Syria.
Closing the Damascus embassy on Thursday, American officials cited "violence and significant damage to US facilities and other embassies" in past demonstrations.
Victims' anger
Officials warned US citizens to avoid the area and an American school was also shut temporarily.
Thousands of people took to the streets of Damascus, waving flags and carrying banners reading "No to American terrorism" and "America the sponsor of destruction and wars".
The protesters, including many civil servants and students, also waved pictures of the Syrian president, as they converged on the central Youssef al-Azmi square.
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BBC correspondent Paul Wood at the scene of the alleged US air assault
BBC correspondent Paul Wood at the scene of the alleged US air assault
Security was tight ahead of the march, with riot police cordoning off the US embassy and an adjacent US residence building.
Damascus has threatened to cut off co-operation on Iraqi border security if the US carries out any more raids on Syrian territory.
The embassy announced it would close on Thursday "due to past demonstrations which resulted in violence and significant damage to US facilities and other embassies".
Unnamed US officials said last Sunday's raid killed Iraqi al-Qaeda chief Abu Ghadiya. They said he had smuggled thousands of fighters across the border into Iraq.
It also said a US school would close temporarily and warned US citizens to avoid the area.
Five of those killed in the raid on Sunday were from the same family, and the BBC's Paul Wood spoke to the woman who lost her husband and four sons at the scene of the raid.
Syria has labelled those claims "totally unjustified" and said it was doing all it could to stem any traffic of foreign fighters across the long and porous border.
She was being treated in a Syrian hospital for injuries she said she received during the attack.
Iraq, which has also condemned the alleged strikes, said it would share the results of its own investigation into the incident near Abu Kamal.
"I went outside to get my son and the Americans shot me," she said. "I was screaming in terror."
Five of those killed last Sunday were from the same family, and the BBC's Paul Wood spoke to a woman who lost her husband and four sons in the incident.
She said all the men were working on the house that was in the compound where the Americans landed, and denied any link between them and al-Qaeda.
She said all the men were working on the house that was in the compound where the Americans landed, and denied any link between them and al-Qaeda.
Our correspondent says although there were Syrian officials present and those interviewed were most likely following the official line, their underlying anger seemed genuine.
If confirmed, the strike - some eight kilometres (five miles) north of Iraq's border with Syria - would be the first American attack in Syria since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
'Totally unjustified'
But unnamed US officials have said it killed Iraqi Abu Ghadiya, a former lieutenant of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al-Qaeda in Iraq leader who was killed in 2006.
The US blamed him for bringing thousands of fighters across the border.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem denied the US claims, calling them "totally unjustified".
He branded the attack a "war crime attempt" and said it had claimed the lives of civilians.
Iraq has also condemned the unconfirmed helicopter strikes.
"The Iraqi government rejects the US helicopter strike on Syrian territory, considering that Iraq's constitution does not allow its land to be a base for launching attacks on neighbouring countries," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said on Tuesday.
But he urged Damascus to prevent groups using Syrian territory for "training and sending terrorists for attacks on Iraq and its people".
If confirmed, Sunday's strike would be the first US attack in Syria since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
