US Senate approves appointment of Syria envoy Ford
The US Senate has unanimously approved the appointment of Robert Ford as US ambassador to Syria.
Ford was dispatched to Syria in December for one year under a Presidential Decree after the Republicans in the Senate refused to approve a permanent envoy in Damascus. They had argued that by doing so, the US would be providing an undeserved "gift" to Syrian President Bashar Assad. (Yitzhak Benhorin, Washington)
