THE United States has closed its embassy in Syria, as Western powers sought to escalate pressure on President Bashar al-Assad to step down.
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad prays during a celebration of Prophet Mohammed's birthday at the al-Rawda mosque in Damascus yesterday Photo: EPABy Alex Spillius and Henry Samuel in Paris
3:42PM GMT 06 Feb 2012
Reports said that Robert Ford, the US ambassador, and 16 members of staff drove across the border into Jordan.
The State Department warned last month it would close the embassy unless Mr Assad's government stepped up its protection. It cited concerns about the safety of personnel and recent car bombs.
The Obama administration has long demanded that Assad step down. Officials insist his regime's demise is inevitable.
President Barack Obama has reiterated his call for Mr Assad step aside after instigating a bloody crackdown of democracy protests that has claimed at least 6,00 lives and sparked a sputtering insurgency led by army defectors.
Shortly before the embassy’s closure was announced, he vowed to seek further sanctions against Damascus but maintained that the West did not need to launch a military campaign as it did in Libya.
“It is very important for us to try to resolve this without recourse to outside military intervention,” he told NBC. “And I think that's possible.”
The decision to close the US embassy came amid renewed diplomatic efforts against Damascus after a United Nations resolution condemning the violent repression of anti-regime protests was vetoed by Russia and China over the weekend.
As William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, prepared to give a Commons statement on Syria, Downing Street said the actions of Russia and China were "incomprehensible and inexcusable".
"Clearly there is a tragedy unfolding in that country," said a spokesman.
"Russia and China are protecting a regime that is killing thousands of people. We find their position incomprehensible and inexcusable."
President Nicolas Sarkozy of France meanwhile said he would speak with President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia to discuss the situation in Syria, which he described as a "scandal".
"France and Germany will not abandon the Syrian people," Mr Sarkozy said after a Franco-German summit in Paris with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
"What's happening is a scandal. We will not accept that the international community remains blocked," he continued, adding that Francois Fillon, the prime minister, would also speak to Vladmir Putin, Russian prime minister and power behind the throne.
France and Germany have backed the idea of a Syrian “contact group”, which would see European countries and the Arab League join forces to provide a diplomatic forum for anti-Syrian measures. A similar group was created against Col Muammar Gaddafi in Libya.
Russia still hopes to play a diplomatic role with Mr Assad, a long-term ally and buyer of Moscow's arms exports. Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, is due to fly to Damascus on Tuesday to hold talks with the Syrian president.
Paris has been prominent in Western efforts to try to force Assad to end a bloody crackdown on protests that has claimed at least 6,000 lives.
Mr Sarkozy has raised the possibility of creating zones to protect civilians, the first proposal by a Western power for outside intervention on the ground.
Mrs Merkel said she was "appalled" by Russia’s obstruction of the UN Security council resolution.
"I have to say here, Russia must ask itself if we are really in a historical situation where policy should be made separately from the Arab League. I can't imagine that this will prove to be a big success," she said.
The idea of a “Friends of Syria” group was mooted over the weekend by Mr Sarkozy and Alain Juppé, the French foreign minister. “We are going to help the Syrian opposition to structure itself, to get organised,” Mr Juppé said.
"Europe will further tighten the sanctions imposed on the Syrian regime and then we are going to try to ratchet up international pressure and there will come a time when the regime will be obliged to acknowledge that it is totally isolated and that it cannot continue.”
But diplomatic sources say France is intent on avoiding forming a “Western front” against the Syrian regime, preferring that the Arab League play a central role. A meeting is slated “in the coming days”, the sources told Le Figaro newspaper.
Qatar, who currently holds the presidency of the Arab League, could play a pivotal role, both in stepping up sanctions and – potentially – coordinating military aid to the Syrian opposition, analysts said.
“A great deal of sanctions decided by member states have still not been applied, like for example the suspension of air routes between Damascas and Arab capitals,” Hazem Nahar, a Syrian opposition figure based in Qatar told Le Monde. “If all these measures became effective, the regime would have much more trouble paying its chabiha – pro-regime miltita – and security service members. That could accelerate its collapse.”
“Western countries are terrified by the idea of military intervention,” said David Roberts of the Royal United Services Institute in Doha. “But after the Russian-Chinese veto, the Qataris could feel more authorised to send money, arms and instructors to members of the Free Syrian Army,” he told Le Monde.
Gérard Longuet, the French defence miniser, kept up criticism of the UN veto saying: "It's a disgrace for the countries that refuse to assume their responsibilities."
"There are political cultures which deserve a kick in the ass. To accept that a dictator can operate freely is disgraceful for governments that accept it,” he told Europe 1 radio.
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