Five years after it recalled its ambassador from Damascus following the assassination of former Lebanese prime-minister Rafiq Al-Hariri, Washington has announced the appointment of Robert Ford, currently the deputy U.S. ambassador to Iraq, as its new ambassador to Syria.
According to American sources, Ford's first task will be to renew the Syria-Israel peace negotiations within the next ten months, in order to fend off accusations about a U.S. failure to promote the peace process. Other tasks on his agenda concern Syria's relations with Iran, Hizbullah and Hamas, as well as Syria's role in Iraq – areas of controversy between Syria and the U.S.
Source: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), January 31, 2010
