Tuesday, 26 April 2011
Syrian protesters take part in a protest calling for Syria's President Bashar al-Assad to step down. (File photo)
The United States has ordered embassy family members and some non-emergency personnel to leave Syria, citing the “uncertainty and volatility” of a crackdown on protesters there.
The State Department’s directive early Tuesday, along with a travel warning telling US citizens to leave the country, followed another day of violent attacks on protesters by Syrian security forces. At least 26 people in Deraa were reported killed on Monday in assaults by Syrian tanks and troops.
“The Department of State has ordered all eligible family members of US government employees as well as certain non-emergency personnel to depart Syria,” the statement said, according to Agence-France Press.
“Embassy operations will continue to the extent possible under the constraints of an evolving security situation,” it said.
“US citizens in Syria are advised to depart while commercial transportation is readily available,” the statement said.
Some 390 people have been killed in security crackdowns in the country of 23 million people since the protests erupted, rights activists and witnesses told AFP.
Washington has been analyzing what steps to take against Syria in response to the violence. It is considering targeted sanctions but has not called for President Bashar al-Assad to step down.
Washington earlier Monday also defended the presence of an American ambassador in Damascus. The ambassador, who arrived in January 2011, was the first to fill the post in six years.
Sanctions would mark a more assertive approach by the US President Barack Obama’s administration, which has been criticized by human rights groups for not doing more to curb Mr. Assad’s efforts to crush a month-long uprising against his autocratic 11-year rule.
Mr. Obama’s response to the Syrian crisis has been limited compared to Washington’s role in a NATO-led air campaign against Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s forces and its call for his ouster.
President Obama spoke by phone with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, and the White House later said they expressed deep concern about the violence in Syria, Reuters reported.
“The leaders agreed that the Syrian government must end the use of violence now and promptly enact meaningful reforms that respect the democratic aspirations of Syrian citizens,” the White House said.
Washington is mindful of its limited ability to influence Damascus, which is already under a set of US economic sanctions and is closely allied with Iran, a US foe.
The Obama administration is also worried about stoking instability on US ally Israel’s borders and wants to avoid another military entanglement in the Muslim world, where it is involved in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
On Monday, Syrian troops backed by tanks moved into the flashpoint town of Deraa, killing at least 26 people, witnesses said, as Damascus was accused of resorting to military force to crush dissent.
President Assad lifted a 48-year state of emergency last Thursday but activists say violence the following day, when 100 protesters were killed, showed he was not serious about reform.
Questions have been raised whether new US sanctions against Mr. Assad and his aides—such as the steps taken against Colonel Qaddafi and his loyalists—would have much tangible impact.
Washington and other Western powers have been trying for two years to woo Mr. Assad away from Tehran and encourage the 46-year-old British-trained eye doctor to reach a peace deal with Israel, according to Reuters.
Western sanctions could push Syria more tightly into Tehran’s embrace and risk further regional instability by stoking sectarian strife.
(Abeer Tayel of Al Arabiya can be reached via email at: abeer.tayel@mbc.net)
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