Syrian Foreign Ministry rejects ‘clear interference in Syria’s internal affairs’ by U.S., French ambassadors.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry summoned the U.S. and French ambassadors on Sunday to protest against their “unauthorized visit to Hama city,” the official SANA news agency reported.
The ministry said the ambassadors’ visit to the central city last Friday “violates Article 41 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which includes an obligation not to interfere in the internal affairs of countries.”
The ministry also reiterated its rejection of “clear interference in Syria’s internal affairs” and said the visit “confirms the external support for disturbing security and stability in Syria.”
The United States flatly rejected the accusation, saying that ambassador Robert Ford arrived in Hama on Thursday after the embassy had informed the Syrian government of the plans.
France said its ambassador to Syria Eric Chevallier went to Hama “to demonstrate France’s commitment on behalf of the victims, (on behalf of) of the civilian population.”
Activists said the ambassadors’ presence prevented a massacre that was expected to take place in the city on Friday.
Hama, around 200 kilometers north of Damascus, was the most recent site of the violent crackdown launched by President Assad’s regime in March against demonstrators demanding democratic reforms and his ouster.
In 1982, a lethal government crackdown killed up to 20,000 people in Hama, when Sunni residents of the town had attempted to revolt against then president Hafez Assad’s minority Alawite sect.
