U.S. orders non-essential personnel to leave Syria

WASHINGTON, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The United States on Monday urged its citizens to defer travel to Syria and ordered non-essential personnel to leave the Middle East country which is slipping into deepening unrest.

In a travel warning, the U.S. State Department urged American citizens to defer "all travel" to Syria at this time and advised those in Syria to depart "while commercial transportation is readily available."

"Given the uncertainty and volatility of the current situation, U.S. citizens in Syria are advised to limit nonessential travel within the country," the warning said, adding that the department "has ordered all eligible family members of U.S. government employees as well as certain non-emergency personnel to depart Syria."

The move came as the Obama administration is considering imposing "targeted sanctions" against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his inner circle. White House spokesman Jay Carney said earlier in the day that Washington is looking at "a range of options."

Syria is witnessing unprecedented protests that erupted five weeks ago in Daraa, 100 km south to the capital Damascus. The protests had spread to other parts of the country, causing the deaths of some 340 so far, according to human rights group reports.

President Al-Assad made the biggest reforms yet last Thursday by lifting the 48-year-old emergency law, abolishing the state security court and bringing in a law allowing peaceful protest, but has failed to rein in the unrest.

Syrian authorities have blamed the country's turmoil on "foreign conspiracy" that is targeting its security and stability.

Editor:Yang Jie |Source: Xinhua


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