BULGARIA: Sofia expels Syrian envoy to express outrage at the Houla massacre

Record ID: 280883

  • Title: BULGARIA: Sofia expels Syrian envoy to express outrage at the Houla massacre
  • Date: 30th May 2012
  • Summary: SOFIA, BULGARIA (MAY 29, 2012) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS SIGN "MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS" (SOUNDBITE) (English) NIKOLAI MLADENOV, MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS SAYING: "Today Bulgaria has decided to expel the Syrian Charge d'Affaires to Sofia as well as to other diplomats and suspend the activities of our embassy in Damascus. This is in response
  • Embargoed: 14th June 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Bulgaria
  • Country: Bulgaria
  • Topics: Conflict
  • Reuters ID: LVA7W8YYUTQI24HA4XXFE6ULT4XS
  • Story Text: Bulgaria is expelling Syria's charge d'affaires as part of an international response to the massacre of civilians in the Syrian village of Houla, its Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday (May 29).
    "Today Bulgaria has decided to expel the Syrian Charge d'affaires to Sofia as well as to other diplomats and suspend the activities of our embassy in Damascus. This is in response to the tragic events of the Houla massacre. I call on all international factors to support the efforts of Kofi Annan to find a peaceful solution to this crisis in Syria. This includes full implementation of the conditionalities the UN and the Arab League have placed on the regime in Damascus," Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolai Mladenov said.
    The charge d'affaires Salah Soukkar will have to leave Bulgaria within 72 hours, the foreign ministry said earlier in a statement.
    Two other diplomats at the Syrian embassy will also be expelled and the European Union member also decided to temporarily close its mission in Damascus and call back its diplomats, the ministry said.
    The United States, France, Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia, and the Netherlands were the other countries that gave Syria's envoys hours or days to leave their capitals in a coordinated move that underlined President Bashar al-Assad's diplomatic isolation. The actions came in outrage at a massacre of 108 people, almost half of them children, but a defiant Assad, backed by Russia, showed no sign of yielding to their pressure.
    The killings in the town of Houla drew a chorus of condemnation from around the world, with the United Nations saying entire families were shot dead in their homes on Friday.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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