The United States closed its embassy in Syria and pulled out remaining staff on Monday over serious security concerns as President Bashar al-Assad's regime intensified its bloody crackdown.
A handout picture released by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad protesting outside the US embassy in Damascus in 2011. The United States closed its embassy in Syria and pulled out remaining staff on after Damascus refused to address security concerns, senior State Department officials told CNN.
US President Barack Obama stressed it was important to resolve the ongoing conflict diplomatically, framing it as very different from the situation in Libya, where Western military intervention helped oust Moamer Kadhafi.
This article is older than 60 days, which we reserve for our premium members only.You can subscribe to our premium member subscription, here.
About the author
- Writer: AFP News agency
- Position: Agence France-Presse
