BEIRUT: The U.S. has closed its embassy in Damascus and pulled out its remaining staff, including U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford, the State Department said Monday.
“The recent surge in violence, including bombings in Damascus on December 23 and January 6, has raised serious concerns that our Embassy is not sufficiently protected from armed attack," the statement by State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said.
“We, along with several other diplomatic missions, conveyed our security concerns to the Syrian Government but the regime failed to respond adequately,” it added.
The U.S. action comes days after a U.N. Security Council resolution prepared by the West and several Arab countries was blocked by both Russia and China. The resolution would have condemned Syria's brutal crackdown on protesters. Russia and China had previously vetoed a similar proposed resolution in October.
Following the vote on Saturday, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice described the move by the two veto-wielding countries as disgusting.
Significantly, in its statement today, the State Department referred to U.S. contacts with Syria's opposition.
"Together with other senior U.S. officials, Ambassador Ford will maintain contacts with the Syrian opposition and continue our efforts to support the peaceful political transition which the Syrian people have so bravely sought."
CNN reported that Ford and remaining staff traveled by convoy to Jordan Monday morning.
In a statement released last month, the U.S. warned that it might close its embassy, citing serious concerns about the deteriorating security situation in Syria as President Bashar Assad continued his lethal crackdown on anti-government protesters.
The U.N. has estimated that over 5,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since the uprising began in mid-March, but Assad maintains that the killings in his country are carried out by armed gangs and terrorists.
Starting in October of last year, the U.S. Embassy began gradually to reduce the number of its staff, ordering families of embassy staff to depart.
Ford returned to Syria in December after being recalled to the U.S. two months earlier due to threats against him.