Western ambassadors unwelcome, says Syria | WPN World People News

The Syrian government has declared 17 diplomats from many Western countries as "personae non gratae", a reciprocal move that follows the expulsion of envoys of the conflict ridden nation from many countries last week.

According to a foreign ministry statement, the government announced that 17 diplomats from the US, the UK, Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany and Canada were unwelcome in the country.

"Some countries have informed our diplomatic missions and our embassies' staff that they are unwelcome," Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdessi said in a statement.

He said Damascus has decided to take a "reciprocal measure" against ambassadors from the US and the eight European nations.

Media reports said most of these diplomats had already left Syria of their countries' own accords.

The action is a diplomatic countermove to the coordinated decision last week by a string of Western countries, including Britain, France, Germany, the United States and Canada, to expel Syrian ambassadors and diplomats in protest against the massacre of more than 100 people, including scores of children, in Houla.

In an unrelated development, the Syrian government has agreed to allow aid agencies to enter the four provinces that have seen the most violence, the UN said.

"This agreement was secured in Damascus with the government there, in writing," John Ging, the director of operations for UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) told reporters in Geneva after a meeting of the Syrian Humanitarian Forum.

"Freedom of movement, unimpeded access for humanitarian action within Syria, is what it's all about now. The good faith of the [Syrian] government will be tested on this issue today, tomorrow and every day," he added.

He said procedures would be streamlined for granting visas to staff from nine UN agencies and seven international NGOs.

The UN will now open field offices in the province of Deraa, Deir al-Zour and Idlib.

Source: Middle East News.Net