On Friday evening, the U.S. Department of State said that they are considering closing their embassy in Damascus, Syria. The reasons given for the possible closing include the decrease in safety for the personnel, the deterioration of security in the country, and the increase in violence against anti-government protestors.
The statement issued by the State Department said that there has not been a final decision made as of yet. The department has “serious concerns” about the recent increase in car bombings and wants to make sure that embassy personnel are safe.
The State Department has asked the Syrian government to take a more active approach to protect the American Embassy and they have taken the matter under advisement. However, if addition security measures are not implemented, there will likely be little choice left as to whether to close the embassy.
The violence in Syria has reached the highest levels since the anti-government protests started last March. The protests continue and in last three weeks, there have been an estimated 400 people killed, which brings the ten month total to more than 5,400. Last month, the Arab League sent a team of observers into the country to see just what is going on, but many have criticized the mission as being ineffective. The time limit for the mission has expired, but the Arab League is considering leaving the observers in Syria longer.
There have been calls from the emir of Qatar for the deployment of Arab troops into Syria. However, Russia said on Wednesday that any such security resolution through the U.N. Security Council would be vetoed.
Syria’s President, Bashar Assad, continues to maintain that his security forces are not responsible for the violence. Instead, Assad says that armed terrorist gangs are responsible and that those terrorists are from foreign countries that only want to rule Syria.
