Czech embassy in Damascus to provide consular services for USA

Washington has closed down its mission in Damascus over unrest in the country. It asked the Czech Republic to represent it in Damascus. Prague has complied with the request, the ministry said.

The USA is another state, after Slovakia, to use the Czech diplomatic presence in Damascus.

Washington withdrew its diplomats from the Syrian capital in February already. Then the U.S. interests in Syria were represented by Poland, which, however, closed its own embassy down for security reasons last Friday.

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski gave the "dramatic deterioration" of the Syrian conflict as the reason for the closure.

"The Czech Republic has accepted an official request from the United States of America regarding a proposal that the Czech Republic become the United States' Protecting Power in Syria.

The circumstances of the cooperation will depend on continuous evaluation of the security situation from the Czech side, including leaving Syria for the security reasons," the Czech ministry writes on its website.

Currently the negotiations concerning the conditions are underway, it adds.

Author: ČTK
www.ctk.cz