UK withdraws diplomats from Syria
Britain's foreign secretary says UK is closing embassy in Syria, withdrawing all diplomatic staff amid security situation
Britain said on Thursday it has pulled its diplomats out of Syria for security reasons but is not breaking diplomatic ties with Damascus after months of violent political turmoil.
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"We now judge 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," Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a statement.
"Our ambassador and diplomatic staff left Syria on 29 February and will return to the UK shortly," added Hague.
A Foreign Office spokesman said Britain had not broken diplomatic ties with Syria. "The (Syrian) embassy in London will remain open so we can have a channel of communication to the Syrian regime," he said.
Reuters and AP contributed to this report
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