U.S. ambassador returning to Syria

WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Robert Ford, the U.S. ambassador to Syria who left Damascus last month after receiving death threats, is returning to the country, the State Department said.

Ford had returned to Washington in late October because of security concerns after receiving the death threats for meeting with Syrian opposition leaders and showing support for protesters.

He was to return to Damascus Tuesday, Voice of America reported.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was meeting with seven exiled Syrian dissidents Tuesday in Geneva, Switzerland, to show support for the opposition, VOA said.

Syrian President Bashar Assad's crackdown on a political uprising, which has killed more than 4,000 people since March, has prompted the United States to attempt to isolate the Syrian government.

Lebanon's Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, expressed support for Assad Tuesday while criticizing the United States.

Nasrallah said in Beirut, Lebanon, the United States was seeking to destroy Syria and praised what he called Assad's plans for reform.

On Monday, the bodies of at least 34 people believed abducted by Syrian government militia were dumped in a square in the city of Homs, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The British-based human rights group said army defectors killed four pro-Assad security personnel in the southern province of Daraa.