Britain shuts down embassy in Syria amid safety concernsMarch 1, 2012 - 17:04 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Britain closed its embassy and withdrew all its diplomatic staff from Syria due to security concerns, the UK's Foreign Office confirmed Thursday, March 1, according to NewsCore. In a statement to lawmakers, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said, "I wish to inform the House that I have taken the decision on security grounds to suspend the services of the British Embassy in Damascus and to withdraw all diplomatic staff." "Our Ambassador and diplomatic staff left Syria on 29 February and will return to the UK shortly. British Nationals who remain in Syria despite our longstanding and consistent message to leave the country should contact the Embassy of any remaining EU Member State if they require consular assistance," the statement added. Hague said Britain had maintained its embassy in Damascus despite escalating violence in Syria since the outbreak of protests against the rule of president Bashar al Assad in March 2011. However, he added that "the deterioration of the security situation in Damascus puts our Embassy staff and premises at risk, and have taken the decision to withdraw staff accordingly." Britain's decision comes after the U.S. closed its embassy in Syria and pulled out all its diplomats earlier this month, also citing the "ongoing violence and a deteriorating security situation." The United Nations estimates more than 7,500 people have been killed in the regime's crackdown on protesters calling for the end of Assad's rule. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. Ucom launches network modernization efforts in few regions of Armenia In particular, on March 28, the legacy Mobile Switching Subsystem will be replaced with a new one. |