British nationals were yesterday told to flee Syria while they still can.
The Foreign Office said it may not be able to provide diplomatic support to UK citizens for much longer, as the hardline government of Bashar al-Assad continues.
More than 300 people have been killed – including more than 120 on Friday and Saturday – since an uprising against Assad’s government began five weeks ago.
Some 500 British passport holders in Syria have contacted their embassy in Damascus to register their presence in recent days.
But diplomats fear the country will soon go into lockdown.
In updated travel advice, the Foreign Office warned: ‘Given the situation on the ground, it is highly unlikely that the British Embassy would be able to provide a normal consular service in the event of a further breakdown of law and order and increased violent civil disorder.’
Foreign Secretary William Hague added: ‘I advise all British nationals in Syria to leave the country, unless they have a pressing need to remain. The Syrian authorities must act quickly and decisively to calm this dangerous situation and can only do so by responding to the legitimate demands of the Syrian people.’
Mr Hague has ordered plans to be drawn up that would allow Britain to mount an airlift and evacuate those British citizens who remain.
Officials have been told they must not be caught on the hop, as they were when scheduled airlines suspended flights to Libya – on that occasion, there was a 48-hour farce as the Government rushed to organize charter flights.
A Foreign Office source said: ‘Contingency plans have been drawn up for all eventualities. We are talking to all our international partners.’
This includes the neighboring countries Turkey and Jordan, as well as other Middle Eastern states monitoring the situation in Syria.
Yesterday another civilian was shot dead in Jabla and thousands were said to have called for the overthrow of the government during a funeral for protesters killed in the southern town of Nawa.
Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director for Human Rights Watch, said: ‘Faced with the Syrian authorities’ strategy, the international community needs to impose sanctions on those ordering the shooting of protesters.’
Also, Canadians still in Syria are being advised to get out of the Middle Eastern country because of the rising violence.
Foreign Affairs has posted a travel advisory on its website that says Canadians should consider leaving by commercial means while the possibility is still there.
It's also advising people not to travel to Syria.
Foreign Affairs predicts violence is likely to escalate in the coming days.
(Dp-news – Sana)
SYRIA- An official source at the General Command of the Syrian Army and Armed Forces announced that the seven martyrs who were killed in Nawa near Dara'a by armed criminal groups were laid to rest in solemn processions from the Tishreen Military Hospital to their villages and towns.
The two martyrs who were killed in al-Mu'adameia, Damascus countryside, by the hands of armed criminal groups, were also laid to rest.
Solemn military ceremonies were held for the martyrs Ibrahim Ibrahim, Imad al-Ali, Issa Dardar, Hazem al-Ali, Nihad Dayoub, Nidal Habib al-Hoshi, Kamal Nasour, Basil Ali and Daniel Fozy.
Families of the martyrs repeated slogans calling for the unity of the homeland, voicing their pride in their sons' martyrdom and affirming that they will continue to offer sacrifices for the sake of the country and its stability.
Forensic doctor at Tishreen Militarly Hospital Dr. Akram al-Shaar said that the martyrs' bodies had signs of mutilation that defies all humane principles, and that the firearm injuries were made to the head, torso, back and limbs of the victims, and that the bodies were mutilated with knives and sharp implements afterwards.
The towns of Soda and Shas in Tartous, Syrian coast, escorted 3 of its sons who were martyred at the hands of armed criminal groups in Jobar near Damascus at Souk al-Hal while marketing their crops.
The criminals intercepted them and shot them to death, then mutilated their bodies afterwards. The martyrs were Ibrahim Hanash, Wael Issa from al-Soda town and Said Shaheen from Shas.
They were received by their families with flowers and vows of preserving Syria's unity and stability. The martyrs' relatives affirmed that the Syrian people are aware of the conspiracy targeting Syria and that they will confront it, expressing pride that their sons were martyred.
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