(CNN) Jill Dougherty - The State Department says the Syrian government has delivered a diplomatic note of protest to the United States, expressing concern over U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford's visit Tuesday to the city of Jassem, 70 kilometers south of Damascus, without permission from the Syrian government. Ford decided to go to Jassem, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, because the Syrian government repeatedly had denied him permission to travel. "So it was on that basis, the fact that he had been denied again and again and again permission to travel under their own system that they set up, that he made the decision ... to go."
2011-08-25 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive