A Syrian community association opposed to the Syrian regime has distanced itself from a raid which left the country's Canberra embassy trashed, describing it as a disappointing knee-jerk reaction.
The Sydney-based Australian Syrian Association condemned the attack on the embassy on Saturday night.
Vice-president Tamer Kahil said there was a huge amount of anger and hurt felt felt by sections of the local Syrian community, following reports that the Syrian government had shelled hundreds of civilians in the city of Homs.
But Mr Kahil said these strong feelings did not excuse the trashing of the Syrian embassy at the weekend.
He said the association had not had any involvement in the raid.
''What happened is not something that I would be proud of. However, I can anticipate that it was just an ad hoc reaction from the Syrian population to the massacres that happened yesterday in Homs,'' Mr Kahil said.
''I don't agree with it and I have no doubt that the Australian Syrian Association has no relationship with it.''
The association's Facebook page has been filled with comments of support for the trashing of the embassy.
One Facebook user wrote on the association's wall: ''Storm the Syrian embassy in Australia ... we at Canberra in Australia stormed Syrian embassy and raised the flag of independence.''
Another wrote: ''The Syrian embassy in Canberra get [raided] by revolution people and rise the revolution flag ... thank you guys, good job.''
The association posted breaking news of the raid on its Facebook site about 12.30am yesterday, three hours after police believe the incident took place.
''Syrians anger from Syrian regime went to Syrian Assad regime embassy in Canberra Australia, they raise revolution flag up and remove Baath al-Asadi flag,'' the association wrote.
The association organised a protest in the wake of the reported violence in Syria, with more than 100 people gathering in Hyde Park in Sydney yesterday.
The crowd called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down, and for Western nations to impose a no-fly zone over the country.
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