U.S. orders Syria to close its embassy in Washington

[PrisonerOfHope]

U.S. orders Syria to close its embassy in Washington



The U.S. on Tuesday ordered Syria to close its embassy in Washington. Above, a demonstrator wearing a mask depicting a Syrian opposition flag during an anti-Assad rally Saturday in Washington. (Mandel Ngan / AFP/Getty Images / March 15, 2014)
By Paul Richter

March 18, 2014, 10:51 a.m.

WASHINGTON -– The Obama administration marked the third anniversary of the start of Syria's civil war Tuesday by ordering Damascus to close its embassy in Washington and expelling its diplomats, though it did not break diplomatic relations with President Bashar Assad’s government.

The order was issued “in consideration of the atrocities the Assad regime has committed against the Syrian people” and because Syria has halted consular services, Daniel Rubinstein, the new U.S. special envoy for Syria, said in a statement.

“We have determined it is unacceptable for individuals appointed by that regime to conduct diplomatic or consular operations in the United States,” he said.

The State Department notified Syria that it must immediately suspend operations at its embassy in Washington, and at its honorary consulates in Houston and Troy, Mich. Syrian diplomats at those posts who are not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents must depart the United States.

Calls to the Syrian Embassy went unanswered Tuesday. A notice on its website said the embassy would not handle any consular business starting Tuesday.

Rubinstein said the United States would maintain diplomatic contact with the government in Damascus “as an expression of our longstanding ties with the Syrian people.”

Anti-government protests that erupted during the "Arab Spring" in 2011 soon evolved into a grinding civil war between Assad's military and an array of rebel groups. The conflict has claimed more than 100,000 lives.

President Obama threatened to launch airstrikes against Syrian military targets last summer after the White House accused Syrian forces of using poison gas against civilians. Assad later agreed to allow international monitors to collect and destroy his chemical weapons arsenal, although Syria has failed to meet several deadlines.

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[schwartzie]

Syria: US closure of embassy arbitrary, illegal
Foreign Ministry statement says American move is a ‘clear violation of the Vienna Convention’
By AFP March 19, 2014, 6:20 pm 0


DAMASCUS — Syria’s foreign ministry said Wednesday that a US decision to close its Washington embassy and two consulates was illegal and arbitrary.

A statement described the decision as “an arbitrary measure,” saying it was “a clear violation of the Vienna Convention” that governs diplomatic relations between nations.

It came a day after the United States announced it was closing Syria’s Washington embassy and consulates in Michigan and Texas and expelling remaining diplomatic staff who were not US citizens.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said the decision was taken because “the illegitimacy of the Assad regime is so overwhelming.”

“So we just felt the idea that this embassy is sitting here with representation that we could take seriously is an insult, and we closed it. It’s that simple,” he said.

Syria’s foreign ministry said the decision was intended to undermine the country’s ability to provide its citizens abroad with services.

The decision “reveals the real objectives of US policy against the interests of Syrian citizens and is another step in the US support for terrorism and bloodshed in Syria,” the statement added.

The Syrian embassy in the US capital had been operating for some time without an ambassador, who left the US in December 2011, leaving only a few low level staff who had been providing limited consular services.

The measures will not affect Syria’s mission to the United Nations, though Washington last month announced it would limit the movements of Syria’s UN ambassador to a 25-mile radius around New York City.

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