Morocco asks Syria’s ambassador persona non grata
Posted July 16, 2012 8:20 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
RABAT, Morocco – Syria’s ambassador to Morocco has been asked to leave the country, the country’s communications minister Monday.
Mustapha Khalfi told The Associated Press that Ambassador Nabih Ismael must leave the country, making Morocco the latest Arab nation to expel its Syrian diplomats.
Syria’s anti-regime activists estimate that more than 17,000 people have been killed in the country since an uprising against Syria’s President Bashar Assad rule began last year.
“The situation in Syria cannot continue so the Kingdom of Morocco has decided to ask the Syrian ambassador to leave the kingdom and be considered persona non grata,” said a statement from the Moroccan Foreign Ministry, which also called on the international community to end the violence in Syria and effect a political transition to a democracy.
Morocco’s own ambassador to Syria was called back for consultations in November after the embassy in Damascus was attacked and there are no plans to return him until the situation changes, the ministry said.
Tunisia was the first Arab country to withdraw its ambassador from Syria in February to protest the killings and it was followed shortly by the six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
