Threats prompt U.S. envoy in Syria to go

DAMASCUS, Syria, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- Robert Ford, the U.S. ambassador to Syria, has left the country after receiving threats to his personal safety, embassy officials said Monday.

Haynes Mahoney, the embassy's charge d'affaires, stressed the action didn't mean the United States formally withdrew the envoy, The New York Times said.

Mahoney will act in Ford's place during the ambassador's absence.

"We're focusing particularly on the incitement in the media, an incitement campaign, I should say, conducted by the Syrian regime, which we hope will stop," Mahoney told the Times in a telephone interview. "At this point, we can't really say when he will return. I hope it will be soon. But it will depend on our assessment of the incitement and the security situation."

Ford has been highly critical of President Bashar Assad's regime and its reaction to the pro-democracy uprising that began earlier this year. Embassy officials said Ford left after receiving "credible threats against his personal safety."

Ford touched off Syrian criticism during the summer when he traveled to Hama in July after Syrian government forces had withdrawn from the city and demonstrations by hundreds of thousands of protesters began.

In September, dozens of pro-government Syrians attempted to accost Ford's delegation as it traveled to a meeting with an opposition figure in Damascus and then tried to break into an office where the meeting was held.

The State Department repeatedly called on the Syrian officials to meet international obligations to protect diplomats.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Monday in a statement Ford's return to his embassy would "depend on our assessment of Syrian regime-led incitement and the security situation on the ground."