Spanish ambassador expelled

Wednesday, 06 June 2012 08:51

Written by Editor

Syria on Tuesday declared as unwelcome the ambassadors of several Western states, including Spain, in what it described as a reciprocal move to last week's expulsion of top Syrian diplomats by at least 13 countries to protest against the massacre of more than 100 people, including 49 children, in the Houla area of Homs province.

Turkey expelled all Syrian embassy staff. The Syrian government announced that 17 diplomats from the US, UK, Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany and Canada were now considered "personae non gratae", and all Turkish diplomatic staff were also declared unwelcome.

A foreign ministry statement said: "The Syrian Arab Republic still believes in the importance of dialogue based on principles of equality and mutual respect, and we hope the countries that initiated these steps will adopt those principles, which would allow relations to return to normal again."

However, foreign observers have said it will be a long time before the Western states are prepared to re-establish diplomatic ties.

Many had already withdrawn their ambassadors on security grounds or for political reasons. US ambassador Robert Ford was called back to Washington in October over fears for his safety, while all British embassy staff were withdrawn in March on security grounds. France also closed its embassy that month in protest at the "scandalous" repression of dissent by the government.

On Sunday, President Bashar al-Assad in a rare visit to the country's Parliament blamed outside powers for Syria's divisions without naming any specific countries.

Meanwhile, the UN has said the Syrian government has agreed to allow aid agencies to enter the four provinces that have seen the most violence. The UN estimates that one million people are in need of assistance inside Syria, and that the number will likely increase after further assessments.