Syria condemns US ‘interference’
Syria accuses the US of “interfering” in its affairs by sending its ambassador to the restive city of Hama following a security crackdown by al-Assad’s regime.
It comes amid rising tension in the city as tanks were deployed around the outskirts of Hama following protests involving an estimated 500,000 people last weekend.
Assad’s forces pulled back from the city after the killing of at least 60 protesters on 3 June, leading to an apparent security vacuum in the country.
The US State Department said its embassy had informed the Syrian government that a diplomatic team, without naming Ford, was travelling to the city and said Ford hoped to stay until Friday.
“The presence of the US Ambassador in Hama without previous permission is obvious proof of a clear evidence of the United States’ involvement in current events in Syria and its attempt to incite an escalation in the situation, which disturbs Syria’s security and stability,” the Syrian foreign ministry said in a statement.
In response, the US State Department said: “The fundamental intention was to make absolutely clear with his physical presence that we stand with those Syrians who are expressing their right to speak for change.”
About 1,000 people have fled Hama fearing another military crackdown on protests calling for the ousting of al-Assad’s regime, a Syrian rights group has said.
The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the residents had headed for Salamiyah, a town 30km from Hama, on Thursday, after it said security forces killed at least 23 civilians there and conducted mass arrests since Tuesday.
Hama was the scene of a 1982 massacre, orchestrated by Bashar al-Assad’s father Hafez, in which up to 40,000 people were killed after an uprising.
The city has staged some of the biggest protests in 14 weeks of demonstrations against the current regime.
Rights groups estimate more than 1,300 people have been killed and 10,000 arrested across the country.