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US closes embassy in Syria, aims to support opposition

Mon, 6 Feb 2012 22:26 GMT

Source: reuters // Reuters

* After UN setback, U.S. looking to "friends of Syria"

* Obama: noose is tightening on Assad government

* But U.S. makes clear no appetite for military action (Adds quote and details)

By Matt Spetalnick and Andrew Quinn

WASHINGTON, Feb 6 (Reuters) - The United States closed its embassy in Damascus on Monday and vowed "greater action" aimed at ousting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as it weighed a dwindling set of diplomatic options after a stinging setback at the United Nations.

Washington said it was pulling all of its remaining diplomats out of Syria just two days after Western countries failed to secure a U.N. Security Council resolution that would have backed an Arab League call for Assad to leave power.

U.S. officials made clear they were now gauging the prospects for a group of like-minded countries to coordinate support for Syria's political opposition, a move that could bypass Russian and Chinese resistance to anti-Assad measures.

President Barack Obama said in a NBC News interview that Assad's government was "feeling the noose tightening" and pledged to apply "more and more pressure."

But he offered no specifics and signalled that however hard Western countries are prepared to lean on Assad diplomatically, they still have no intention of using military force to topple him as they did against Muammar Gaddafi in Libya last year.

Later, the White House said it was not ready to consider arming Syria's opposition.

The U.S. Embassy shutdown, foreshadowed by the State Department last month, came as Washington and its allies sought a new strategy to galvanize the international community and force Assad to end his bloody, 11-month-old crackdown on the opposition.

"There has been a great deal of collective action taken against the Syrian regime thus far," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters. "There will be greater action taken, and we're going to work with all the friends of Syria and the Syrian people to continue to pressure the Assad regime."

Carney insisted that Assad was "running out of money" and said the United States would coordinate with allies to "make sure that he is unable to finance his continued crackdown."

U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told Congress last week that Assad could not sustain his hold on power, and it is a matter of time before his leadership falls.

Washington has already imposed tough sanctions on Damascus and has few good options left to isolate it unilaterally.

International options have been further constrained by Russia and China's double veto in the Security Council on Saturday, which halted a U.S.-backed resolution on Syria and blocked U.N. action. Russia has longstanding economic ties with Syria, and U.S. foe Iran is also an Assad ally.

NO APPETITE FOR MILITARY ACTION

While threatening Damascus with further isolation, Obama made clear that the United States had no appetite for a Libya-style military intervention.

"Not every situation is going to allow for the kind of military solution that we saw (in Libya)," Obama said. "It is very important for us to try to resolve this without recourse to outside military intervention. And I think that's possible."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton vowed on Sunday that Washington would work with "friends of a democratic Syria around the world." Such a group might be modeled loosely after the contact group that oversaw international help for Gaddafi's opponents.

"Those conversations are now going forward among the countries who might want to be part of this kind of a 'friends' initiative and we'll see where that conversation goes," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

Administration officials have said Syrian rebels remain too fragmented to have much hope of prevailing in a Libya-style uprising.

But that might not rule out U.S. acquiescence to other countries providing military equipment and training to ragtag Syrian rebel forces.

"We believe that the right solution in Syria is a political solution," Carney said. "We take no options off the table, but our focus is on using our diplomatic, economic and other means."

The State Department said it had suspended embassy operations and withdrawn Ambassador Robert Ford due to Syria's failure to address security concerns. But the move stopped short of a break in diplomatic ties between Washington and Damascus.

Nuland said that Ford would retain his position as the U.S. ambassador and would work with his team from Washington to maintain contacts with the Syrian opposition.

She said the United States would continue to have lines of communication to the Assad government, noting that Syria's embassy in Washington remains open and could serve as a conduit for messages particularly on security issues.

Britain also said on Monday it was recalling its ambassador to Syria for consultations as a diplomatic protest against Assad's crackdown on protesters. (Additional reporting by Alister Bull and Laura MacInnis; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)