US Embassy in Syria Closed, Diplomats Evacuated - East Idaho News
World

US Embassy in Syria Closed, Diplomats Evacuated

  Published at

GETTY W 020612 USEmbassyDamascus?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1328538431489AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — The United States has whisked its remaining diplomats out of Syria and suspended operations at its embassy in Damascus as violence there continues to increase, U.S. officials told ABC News.

The skeletal staff, including Ambassador Robert Ford, departed quietly despite being denied exit visas by Syrian authorities in some cases, officials said.

The embassy had already pared down its staff over the past several months amid concerns about their security.  After the latest round of reductions in January, a core group of 17 staff members remained in the country. Some departed overland to Jordan while others flew out of the airport in the capital.

The shuttering of the embassy follows similar steps by other Western countries in recent weeks. A U.S. official said that talks are ongoing with Poland to serve as the American protecting power in Syria while the U.S. embassy is closed.

Monday’s move comes after the Obama administration says its requests to Syrian authorities for increased security around the American embassy and its diplomats fell on deaf ears.  The embassy is situated on a busy intersection in Damascus and officials say they feared al Qaeda elements, which are believed to be behind a string of car bombs in the Syrian capital, could target Americans next. They also requested that the street the embassy is on be closed, but nothing was done.

The embassy had already been targeted by a pro-Assad mob last July after Ambassador Ford defied restrictions on his travel outside the capital and visited the restive city of Hama. Some in the crowd scaled the outer walls of the embassy and defaced the exterior, including the American flag, before being chased away by embassy guards.

The U.S. embassy, like other diplomatic facilities there, is guarded by Syrian security forces. U.S. officials say they were slow to respond and accused the government of sponsoring the protest.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

SUBMIT A CORRECTION