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The U.S. has pulled its ambassador out of Syria over security concerns, blaming President Bashar Assad's government for the threats.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Monday that Ambassador Robert Ford returned to Washington this weekend after "credible threats against his personal safety."


Toner couldn't say when Ford might return, saying it depended on a U.S. "assessment of Syrian regime-led incitement and the security situation on the ground."

Haynes Mahoney, the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Damascus, confirmed that Ford was out of the country but emphasized that Washington has not formally recalled him.

Ford has enraged Syrian authorities with his forceful defense of peaceful protests, and harsh critique of a government crackdown that has now killed nearly 3,000 people. Ford particularly angered Assad's regime in July when he was met by demonstrators in the restive city of Hama. http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2097618,00.html

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