BICOM

The United States has ordered Robert Ford, its ambassador to Damascus, to leave Syria following threats to his safety. The decision, which represents a significant deterioration in US-Syrian relations, came after what a US statement described as a ‘growing campaign of incitement against him being orchestrated by the regime,’ which had resulted in ‘credible threats to his safety.’ Damascus has now also withdrawn its ambassador to the US, Imad Moustapha.

The US State Department Spokesman Mark Toner said that this move did not represent a formal breaking of diplomatic relations, but that it was impossible to predict when Ford would return to Syria.

Ford arrived in Damascus in January as the first US ambassador to Syria for more than five years. Since March, when the Syrian uprising began, the US ambassador has, however, effectively been confined to the US embassy compound. The occasions when Ford has attempted to venture beyond the limits of the capital city, he has been harassed by elements of the Syrian regime. Ford on one occasion was able to visited Hama, a centre of the uprising, and expressed solidarity with activists fighting the dictatorship of President Bashar al-Assad. He was later pelted with eggs by pro-regime demonstrators in Damascus and on one occasion trapped in his office by a pro-regime mob.

According to the UN, more than 3,000 people – mostly unarmed demonstrators – have been killed by the regime since protests began.