Germany won't sever ties with Syrian regime

Germany said Tuesday it would not cut all diplomatic ties with the Syrian regime because it needed to provide humanitarian aid for the Syrian people and those displaced. Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, in press remarks, said Germany would degrade diplomatic ties with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad's regime to their lowest possible levels, but would not sever them although Berlin asked four Syrian diplomats to leave Germany. The foreign ministry asked, yesterday, the four Syrian diplomats to leave Germany within 72 hours, leaving only two diplomats in the Syrian embassy in Berlin. On the Friends of Syria meeting in Marrakech, Morocco, tomorrow, Westerwelle said he expected more countries to recognize the new Syrian opposition body. He added that he would attend the meeting.