US considers closing Embassy in Syria

By NBC News and news services

The Obama administration is considering closing its U.S. Embassy in Damascus, but has not reached a final decision, NBC News has learned.

"We are considering it given the deteriorating security situation in Syria and our increasing concern for our personnel on the ground. No final decision has been made at this time," an administration official told NBC News on Friday.

---

U.S. officials are waiting?for embattled President Bashar al-Assad to provide better protection to?Americans.

"We have requested that the government of Syria take additional security measures to protect our embassy, and the Syrian government is considering that request. We have also advised the Syrian government that unless concrete steps are taken in the coming days we may have no choice but to close the mission," the State Department said in a statement.

The United States recently reduced the number of staff in Damascus because of security concerns in Syria, where Syrian authorities are seeking to crush anti-government protests.

The United States has repeatedly warned Americans to avoid travel to Syria, where Assad's government has mounted a violent crackdown to crush months of popular protests.

The U.S. ambassador in Damascus, Robert Ford, returned to Syria in December after having been recalled to Washington in October because of threats to his safety.

Violence, deaths
At least six people were killed in Syria on Friday and the bodies of six others were turned over to their families, activists said, two days before the Arab League decides whether to keep monitors there despite their failure to halt bloodshed.

Hundreds of people have been killed since the monitors arrived in late December in Syria, where an armed insurgency has grown in recent months, challenging Assad's grip on several parts of the country.

The Obama administration has repeatedly called for Assad to leave office because of Syria's handling of the protests, which the United Nations estimates has killed more than 5,000 civilians since unrest erupted in March.

Reuters contributed to this report.

More from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Source: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/20/10201476-us-considers-shuttering-embassy-in-syria

ibogaine weather houston weather houston small business saturday small business saturday hank baskett beyonce dance for you