Ford stepping down as Amb to Syria premature

The U.S. Department of State on Thursday would not confirm reports that U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford was stepping down from his post, but said the diplomat was continuing to push Syria's opposition to stay involved in peace talks. The Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters in a briefing that Ford was nearing the end of this rotation as the top diplomat to Syria. However, she said: "It would be premature to report that he has formally made a decision to leave his post." According to reports, Ford, who has been the U.S. point person on efforts to organize the Syrian opposition, plans to step down in July after two years of work on the issue. Ford and Secretary of State John Kerry are trying to lay the groundwork for a conference in Geneva, Switzerland between rebels and the Syrian government sponsored by the U.S. and Russia. Despite the threats within the Syrian opposition to withdraw from peace talks, Ford is on the ground, urging them to move forward on expanding the opposition's leadership and participation, according to Psaki. "We are encouraging, and we encourage publicly, the opposition not to derail from its stated commitment of working towards a political solution, as outlined in the coalition's own media note yesterday," she said.