U.S. ambassador to be back in Syria shortly

The United States will send its ambassador back to Syria soon at a time when the Arab League has called its member states to withdraw their envoys from the crisis- plagued nation, the State Department said on Monday. "That remains our belief, yes, that he will be returning shortly," department spokesman Mark Toner said, in reply to a question about whether Ambassador Robert Ford will return to Damascus as planned to have Thanksgiving with his staff at the embassy, a holiday that is only days away."We've been very clear why we believe Ambassador Ford needs to be on the ground -- that he is, in fact, providing that kind of witness to what the regime's carrying out," he added. He argued that what the Arab League is talking about would send "a very strong signal" of Syrian President Bashar Assad's isolation, but "it's each country's sovereign decision whether they're going to recall their ambassador or not." Ford left Syria last month, and the State Department insisted that he was asked to go home for consultations but not withdrawn or recalled. The envoy had paid controversial visits to many restive areas in Syria in a show of support to anti-government protesters, as the Arab nation has been plagued by unrest since mid-March when protests erupted against Assad's government. He was hit several times with eggs and tomatoes. The Arab league decided on Saturday to suspend Syria's membership, to be effective on Wednesday, and then called on its members to withdraw ambassadors and impose sanctions on Damascus until it implements a peace plan brokered by the regional body, under which Syria would have stopped violence and withdrawn military vehicles from cities, released detainees and held dialogue with the opposition. The European Union agreed on Monday to extend sanctions against Syria to 18 more individuals linked with violent crackdown on protesters. Toner told reporters that the U.S. is looking to the Arab League's next meeting slated for Wednesday, but its goal "is to increase pressure -- economic pressure on Assad and political pressure on Assad." "So actions that would help up that pressure or increase that pressure we believe would be beneficial," he added.