Ford back to Syria by Thanksgiving

When U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford returns to Syria, Washington expects Syrian leaders to uphold international obligations, an official said. The U.S. Embassy in Damascus announced last weekend that Ford was in Washington following threats to his personal safety. Washington expressed frustration that Damascus wasn't upholding its international obligations to ensure the safety of foreign diplomats, noting he was the subject a smear campaign in the Syrian media. Embassy officials said his return was dependent on the situation on the ground in Syria, where more than 3,000 demonstrators were killed at the hands of Syrian forces since mid-March. Victoria Nuland, a spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department, said Washington expected Ford to return to Damascus before Thanksgiving. "We do intend for Ambassador Ford to go back, and when he does go back, we expect the Syrian government to do a better job of meeting their Vienna Convention obligations to keep him safe and to keep all of our personnel safe," she said. An Arab League official said meetings with Syrian President Bashar Assad were friendly but there were no breakthroughs in efforts to end the rebellion and brutal government crackdown.