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U.S. closes embassy, pulls diplomats from Syria as violence intensifies
By Alice Fordham, Updated: Monday, February 6, 11:11 AM
DAMASCUS, Syria - The United States has closed its embassy in Damascus and pulled all diplomats and U.S. staff out of the country, citing security concerns, the State Department said Monday.
State Department spokeswomanVictoria Nuland said Ambassador Robert S. Ford will continue "his work and engagement with the Syrian people," who have been demonstrating against the government of President Bashar al-Assad for 11 months.
Assad's government has carried out an increasingly violent crackdown on anti-government demonstrators, with new reports of shelling in the cities of Homs and Zabadani on Monday.
The United States wants Assad to cede power and make way for a democratically elected government. It supported a U.N. resolution condemning Syria that was vetoed by Russia and China on Saturday.
While couched in security concerns, the decision to close the embassy could signal a shift in policy toward Syria following the collapse of the U.N. diplomatic efforts. The State Department had long sought to keep the embassy open in order to better monitor the situation in Syria, and to preserve an open channel with the Syrian opposition.
In recent days, however, the administration's rhetoric has toughened, toward both Syria and its few remaining allies. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Sunday denounced the vetoes by Russian and China as a "travesty."
Still, the White House has continued to downplay the possibility of a Libya-style military campaign to aid Syria's rebels. President Obama, in an NBC interview broadcast on Sunday, said it was "very important for us to try to resolve this without recourse to outside military intervention."
"I think that's possible," Obama said. "My sense is that you're seeing more and more people inside of Syria recognizing that they need to turn a chapter . . . This is not going to be a matter of ‘if.' It's going to be a matter of ‘when.' "
As the revolt and the crackdown edged closer to the capital in recent weeks, U.S. officials voiced growing concern about the security of the relatively lightly protected embassy building.
Diplomats negotiated with Syrian authorities to be permitted to bring in extra staff and take further measures to secure the embassy, but met with resistance. "We have serious concerns about the deteriorating security situation in Damascus, including the recent spate of car bombs, and about the safety and security of embassy personnel," the State Department said in a recent statement.
A twin car bombing in December killed dozens of people, many of them from the security forces. It was the first time such a tactic had been used in the city. Syrian authorities blamed the blast on al-Qaeda. Syrian media have reported a number of subsequent explosions, including a bus bomb in the neighborhood of Midan on Jan. 6.
"The recent surge in violence . . . raised serious concerns that our embassy is not sufficiently protected from armed attack," Nuland said Monday. "We, along with several other diplomatic missions, conveyed our security concerns to the Syrian government but the regime failed to respond adequately."
Ford, who led U.S. criticism of the Syrian regime in the early months of the uprising, was called home from Damascus in October out of concern for his personal safety but returned to Syria in early December. His meetings with activists and vivid Facebook postings have drawn the Damascus government's ire.
In Homs on Monday, a barrage of heavy artillery fired by the army hit the city, residents said. The artillery reportedly struck a field hospital in the neighborhood of Baba Amr, a center of opposition to Assad's government.
Heavy artillery also shook houses near Zabadani, a town where opposition fighters negotiated a truce with security forces more than two weeks ago.
The onslaught has been going on for several days, according to residents, who said friends and relatives in Zabadani had not been allowed to leave. Soldiers did not allow outsiders to access the town.
"We continue to be gravely concerned by the escalation of violence in Syria," said Nuland, calling for urgent international action to address the problem.
Staff writer Joby Warrick in Washington contributed to this report.
Homs:Capital of Syrian Revolution
By Alice Fordham, Updated: Monday, February 6, 11:11 AM
DAMASCUS, Syria - The United States has closed its embassy in Damascus and pulled all diplomats and U.S. staff out of the country, citing security concerns, the State Department said Monday.
State Department spokeswomanVictoria Nuland said Ambassador Robert S. Ford will continue "his work and engagement with the Syrian people," who have been demonstrating against the government of President Bashar al-Assad for 11 months.
Assad's government has carried out an increasingly violent crackdown on anti-government demonstrators, with new reports of shelling in the cities of Homs and Zabadani on Monday.
The United States wants Assad to cede power and make way for a democratically elected government. It supported a U.N. resolution condemning Syria that was vetoed by Russia and China on Saturday.
While couched in security concerns, the decision to close the embassy could signal a shift in policy toward Syria following the collapse of the U.N. diplomatic efforts. The State Department had long sought to keep the embassy open in order to better monitor the situation in Syria, and to preserve an open channel with the Syrian opposition.
In recent days, however, the administration's rhetoric has toughened, toward both Syria and its few remaining allies. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Sunday denounced the vetoes by Russian and China as a "travesty."
Still, the White House has continued to downplay the possibility of a Libya-style military campaign to aid Syria's rebels. President Obama, in an NBC interview broadcast on Sunday, said it was "very important for us to try to resolve this without recourse to outside military intervention."
"I think that's possible," Obama said. "My sense is that you're seeing more and more people inside of Syria recognizing that they need to turn a chapter . . . This is not going to be a matter of ‘if.' It's going to be a matter of ‘when.' "
As the revolt and the crackdown edged closer to the capital in recent weeks, U.S. officials voiced growing concern about the security of the relatively lightly protected embassy building.
Diplomats negotiated with Syrian authorities to be permitted to bring in extra staff and take further measures to secure the embassy, but met with resistance. "We have serious concerns about the deteriorating security situation in Damascus, including the recent spate of car bombs, and about the safety and security of embassy personnel," the State Department said in a recent statement.
A twin car bombing in December killed dozens of people, many of them from the security forces. It was the first time such a tactic had been used in the city. Syrian authorities blamed the blast on al-Qaeda. Syrian media have reported a number of subsequent explosions, including a bus bomb in the neighborhood of Midan on Jan. 6.
"The recent surge in violence . . . raised serious concerns that our embassy is not sufficiently protected from armed attack," Nuland said Monday. "We, along with several other diplomatic missions, conveyed our security concerns to the Syrian government but the regime failed to respond adequately."
Ford, who led U.S. criticism of the Syrian regime in the early months of the uprising, was called home from Damascus in October out of concern for his personal safety but returned to Syria in early December. His meetings with activists and vivid Facebook postings have drawn the Damascus government's ire.
In Homs on Monday, a barrage of heavy artillery fired by the army hit the city, residents said. The artillery reportedly struck a field hospital in the neighborhood of Baba Amr, a center of opposition to Assad's government.
Heavy artillery also shook houses near Zabadani, a town where opposition fighters negotiated a truce with security forces more than two weeks ago.
The onslaught has been going on for several days, according to residents, who said friends and relatives in Zabadani had not been allowed to leave. Soldiers did not allow outsiders to access the town.
"We continue to be gravely concerned by the escalation of violence in Syria," said Nuland, calling for urgent international action to address the problem.
Staff writer Joby Warrick in Washington contributed to this report.
Homs:Capital of Syrian Revolution