(CNN) -- The embattled Syrian regime is accusing the U.S. ambassador of inciting protests in the restive city of Hama, but a State Department official called that claim "absolute rubbish" Friday.
The state-run Syrian media says U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford also met with "saboteurs" and undermined its national dialogue initiative during a visit to that city.
The government said Ford did not ask for proper permission to travel there, where thousands of people have taken to the streets for anti-government protests in recent days, including a huge turnout on Friday.
''This U.S. conduct is also aimed at obstructing dialogue and political solutions undertaken by the leadership in Syria,'' according to a media source quoted by the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency on Friday.
But State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland issued a blunt rebuttal, calling the claims of incitement "absolute rubbish" and saying she was "dismayed" by the Syrian government reaction. Nuland stressed that the U.S. Embassy notified the Syrian Defense Ministry before the visit and that Ford's car was waved through a security checkpoint.
In a visit meant to show solidarity with the Syrian citizenry, Ford journeyed to the city on Thursday -- when he visited a hospital -- stayed overnight and left on Friday.
Nuland, who called the visit "bold," said Ford met with many "average folk" in the streets of Hama on Thursday, and Friday morning he drove through the city to do the same thing.
People were starting to gather in a city square at that time, and his car was immediately surrounded by friendly protesters who put flowers and olive branches on the car and cheered "down with regime."
"It was quite a scene," Nuland said, noting video of the incident is on YouTube.
Ford left Hama around 1:30 p.m., before Friday prayers and in advance of the demonstrations, in order to ensure his presence would not cause a distraction, according to a State Department official.
Nuland said Ford decided to leave because the United States would become the story If he got out of the car. He wanted to "make clear this was not about us; this was about the rights of the Syrian citizens," Nuland said.
Ford was escorted out of town by group of friendly young men on motorcycles.
Syrian-run media on Friday slammed Ford for his activities. A State TV banner accused Ford of inciting and participating in the protests in Hama.
Another TV report said he met with "saboteurs in Hama," urging them to protest and reject the government-backed national dialogue process.
The process is designed to generate society-wide participation on issues, the government has said. A "consultative meeting" of the National Dialogue Committee is scheduled this weekend.
But opposition to that process is the theme of today's nationwide turnouts, dubbed "No Dialogue."
SANA reported that a Foreign Ministry source accused Ford of going to Hama without obtaining permission from the government.
According to the report, the Foreign Ministry official said Ford's visit was "clear evidence of the U.S. involvement in the ongoing events in Syria and its bids to aggravate the situations which destabilize Syria.''
Nuland on Thursday said U.S. officials notified the Syrian government that an embassy team was traveling to Hama.
"The embassy informed Syrian officials that an embassy delegation, without specifying whom, would be heading to Hama. And they then proceeded to make their way there and were allowed to proceed," Nuland said.
Ford's delegation did not include any official Syrian "handlers," Nuland said, adding that Syrian authorities allowed him through check points to reach the town.
"For him to go personally at this time and stand with the people of Hama, I think, expresses in physical terms -- not to mention political terms -- our view that the people of Hama have the right to express themselves peacefully and that we are concerned about the posture that the security forces have taken," Nuland said.
Bouthaina Shaaban, an adviser to President Bashar al-Assad, called the visit "an escalation on the part of the U.S. ambassador. Never before an ambassador visited a city with a problem like the case of Hama without permission."
Speaking to BBC Arabic in an interview reported by SANA, Shaaban said Ford's visit was inauspicious, coming at the "moment when a meeting is prepared between the residents, mosque imams and the civil authorities in the city aimed at finding a solution to the problem."
She said his arrival undermines efforts to solve the problem.
"By whose help was he able to reach al-Sreijeh Mosque without being encountered by any of the gunmen in the streets who have blocked employees in Hama from reaching their jobs for the fourth day in a row." she asked.
"Syria doesn't want to cut the thinnest thread with the U.S. administration, but there is great protest and resentment among the Syrian people about the U.S. State Department's statement that the ambassador is in Hama and intends to stay till Friday on the eve of the national dialogue due to be held among all spectrums of the Syrian society. ... This gives us a message that the U.S. says 'No' to dialogue," Shaaban said.
She asked why the United States hasn't backed the regime's dialogue initiative despite its talk of the need for reform in Syria.
"There are enough national opposition members from all the spectrums who will attend this dialogue. But we haven't heard one word from the West that encourages dialogue among the Syrian people," she said.
The media source quoted by SANA said Ford's presence represented "flagrant interference in the internal affairs of an independent and sovereign state" and was reminiscent of the colonial era. Syria was once under a French mandate.
''This conduct is tied to meetings which took place, the latest of which was Saint Germain meeting in Paris, which was organized by Zionist circles against Syria, as it comes ahead of the consultative meeting due on July 10, with the participation of all the spectrums of the Syrian society and its political and intellectual movements in the run up to the national dialogue conference," the source said.
Eric Chevallier, the French ambassador to Syria, also visited Hama, arriving on Thursday and spending the night. He met with medical staff and the wounded and their families.
"France reiterates its concern about the fate of the inhabitants of the city of Hama and condemns the violence perpetrated by the authorities in Syria against the demonstrators and civilians," the French Foreign Ministry said.
Last month, Hama was the site of violent crackdowns by security forces that killed 60 protesters.
The city is a sensitive spot for Syrian authorities. In 1982, it was the scene of a brutal military crackdown targeting Sunni Muslims by the Alawite-dominated government of Hafez al-Assad, the current president's late father. Thousands were killed, with Human Rights Watch putting the toll at 10,000.CNN's Elise Labott and Jomana Karadsheh contributed to this report
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