Suchergebnisse

An interview with Robert Ford, Former US ambassador to Syria (2010-2012). In February 2010, President Obama appointed you ambassador to Syria. This post had not been held since 2005, the year of diplomatic relations between Washington and Damascus. You finally took office in January 2011, after a long delay due to the opposition of congressional Republicans to the restoration of bilateral relations. What were your expectations when you arrive in Damascus? We all wondered if Syria would be preserved of revolutionary contagion that had already hit Libya, Egypt and Tunisia. But the main element of my roadmap was related to our concerns about the links between Damascus and Hezbollah (2), and on activities of Hezbollah in Lebanon. I also had to make sure that Syria comply with its international commitments in the nuclear field - commitments which involved, in particular, it allows international inspections on some specific nuclear sites (3). Finally, my goal was to get the Syrian authorities information on their chemical weapons program. Ideally, we wanted this program might be destroyed; at least, had to submit to inspections. Adapted from the source document.