WASHINGTON — The Obama administration ordered the Syrian government on Tuesday to suspend its diplomatic and consular missions in the United States, requiring all personnel who are not legal US residents to leave the country. The order, three years after the start of Syria's bloody civil war, essentially shutters the Syrian embassy in Washington and its honorary consulates in Troy, Michigan, and Houston, Texas. It comes in response to a decision by President Bashar Al-Assad's government to suspend consular services for Syrians living in the US. “We have determined it is unacceptable for individuals appointed by that regime to conduct diplomatic or consular operations in the United States,” US special envoy to Syria Daniel Rubenstein said in a statement. However, Rubenstein said the US wants to continue diplomatic relations with Damascus, “as an expression of our longstanding ties with the Syrian people, an interest that will endure long after Bashar Al-Assad leaves power.” “The United States will continue to assist those seeking change in Syria, to help end the slaughter, and to resolve the crisis through negotiations — for the benefit of the Syrian people,” Rubenstein said. More than 140,000 people have been killed in the war that began in March 2011 as an uprising against Assad's government. Tuesday's order should not affect Syria's mission at the United Nations, although the State Department earlier this month already imposed restrictions limiting its ambassador to New York. Syrian-Americans had complained that Ambassador Bashar Jafari was seeking to divide their community by traveling around the United States on a propaganda tour in support of Assad's government. — AP
