William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, has ordered the evacuation of all British diplomats from Syria and closed the UK embassy in Damascus because of mounting security threats.
William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, has ordered the evacuation of all British diplomats from Syria and closed the UK embassy in Damascus because of mounting security threats. Photo: BBC
By David Blair
1:33AM GMT 02 Mar 2012
The risks facing British personnel in the country were such that the Foreign Office judged they could no longer continue their work in safety.
Simon Collis, the ambassador, and his staff left the country on Wednesday. A key concern was that unrest might spread in Damascus itself, where protests against President Bashar al-Assad have become regular occurrences in many suburbs.
Mr Hague’s decision will deepen Syria’s diplomatic isolation: America and six Gulf Arab countries all closed their embassies or withdrew their ambassadors last month. France also pulled out its ambassador for consultations, although he has since returned.
The steady closure of missions means that the premium attached to having a functioning embassy in Syria is all the greater.
Mr Hague told Parliament: “We have maintained an embassy in Damascus despite the violence to help us communicate with all parties in Syria and to provide insight into the situation on the ground”.
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But he added: “We now judge that the deterioration of the security situation in Damascus puts our embassy staff and premises at risk.”
Last year, the embassies of France and America, along with those of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, were all attacked by mobs loyal to Mr Assad’s regime. The Foreign Office stressed that Mr Hague’s decision was taken on security grounds alone and was not intended as a further diplomatic protest. Britain has not formally severed diplomatic relations with Syria.
Mr Hague said that his decision “in no way reduces the UK’s commitment to active diplomacy to maintain pressure on the Assad regime to end the violence”.
He added: “We will continue to work closely with other nations to co-ordinate diplomatic and economic pressure on the Syrian regime.”
Last year, Mr Hague closed down the Iranian embassy in London after the British mission in Tehran was stormed. But the Foreign Office said there was no plan to close the Syrian embassy in Britain, which continues to operate in London’s Belgrave Square.
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