The BBC's foreign editor, Jon Williams, has demanded that two Syrian TV stations apologise for their attacks on the corporation's integrity.
In a tweet earlier today, he claimed that the stations, Al Dunya and Al Ikhbaria, had falsely accused the BBC of inciting sectarianism and fabricating stories.
He told me: "It's taken long enough for Syria to allow foreign correspondents into the country, and we welcome that change of mind.
"But the Damascus authorities must allow our staff to do their job without them being intimidated."
It is known that a BBC producer has been verbally abused several times while working with reporters.
In a second tweet, Williams wrote about that colleague being attacked by President Assad's supporters, reiterating that the BBC is "committed to reporting all sides of the story. Intimidation of local staff must stop."
See Williams's twitter feed here
