US AMBASSADOR to Syria Robert Ford left Damascus for Washington at the weekend “as a result of credible threats against his personal safety in Syria”, US deputy state department spokesman Mark Toner said yesterday.
Mr Ford, who speaks fluent Arabic, has sided with opponents to the rule of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. Last month, his car was pelted with eggs and tomatoes when he called on an opposition figure, and the building where they met was surrounded by pro-Assad demonstrators. In July, Mr Ford and his French counterpart visited the restive city of Hama.
Mr Ford was appointed to Damascus in January, almost six years after the US withdrew its ambassador following the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri.
Despite Mr Ford’s bravery in denouncing the abuses of the Assad regime, Senate Republicans blocked his confirmation until October 3rd, part of routine obstruction of appointments by the Obama administration.
Mr Toner said Mr Ford’s return to Damascus would “depend on our assessment of Syrian regime-led incitement and the security situation on the ground”.
The Syrian ambassador to Washington, Imad Moustapha, left for Damascus yesterday.
US newspapers have reported that the Syrian regime is using technology developed by Californian company Blue Coat Systems to spy on internet users and restrict access to information.
Meanwhile, human-rights group Amnesty International yesterday released a report accusing Syria of torturing injured protesters and persecuting medical personnel it suspects of helping them.
The report documents the torture and ill-treatment of wounded patients in at least four government-run hospitals in Banias, Homs and Tell Kalakh, and at the military hospital in Homs.
When security forces did not find an alleged activist commander in a raid on the al-Birr wa al-Khadamat Hospital in Homs on September 7th, they reportedly took 18 wounded people from the hospital. A health worker who witnessed the raid said he saw a ventilator removed from an unconscious patient who was taken away.
“The Syrian authorities seem to have let their security forces loose in many hospitals,” said Colm O’Gorman, executive director of Amnesty International Ireland.
He said many wounded protesters will not go to hospital for fear of falling into the hands of the security forces.
