Tens of thousands of Syrians gathered  outside the US Embassy in Damascus on Thursday to protest the US raid earlier this week in which 8 people were killed including a key member of Al Qaida. Hundreds of Syrian riot police encircled the embassy building that was closed due to security concerns stemming from the protest. Police in riot gear pushed back the chanting mob, some of whom carried pictures of Syrian President Bashar Assad.Damascus asked Washington to apologise for the cross border raid conducted by special American forces. The United States said the raid was carried out because of Syria's inability to stop  foreign fighters from crossing the border into Iraq to fight coalition forces.10/30/20