U.S. Ambassador Vows to Monitor Syria Violence Firsthand

The U.S. envoy to Syria has returned to monitor the "grotesque" crackdown there, placing himself on a collision course with Damascus, which has imposed strict constraints on diplomats.

Washington on Thursday sent Ambassador Robert Ford back to Syria, where President Bashar al-Assad's troops and tanks have stormed major cities in an effort to suppress a months-long pro-democracy revolt.

Last month Ford infuriated the Syrian government with his visit to the flashpoint city of Hama, a major protest hub where scores of people have been killed in the past week in a massive military raid.

But in an interview with U.S. broadcaster ABC, conducted before he left Washington and aired on Sunday, he vowed to continue traveling across Syria to observe the crackdown firsthand.

"I don't particularly care (about angering Damascus), because we have to show our solidarity with peaceful protesters," he told ABC's Sunday political talk show "This Week."

"I'd do it again tomorrow if I have to. I'm going to keep moving around the country. I can't stop."

It could be a dangerous mission. The violence rages on, with activists saying that Syrian forces backed by tanks killed more than 50 people on Sunday, as Assad defended the campaign as a battle against "outlaws."

Ford said that while he was "personally very nervous about the fate of some of the people I met," including some he feared are "either now under arrest or maybe dead," he insisted on the need to travel outside the capital.

"My whole purpose in being in Syria is to be able to communicate not only with the Syrian government, but with the Syrian people," he said.

"It's important to bear witness to what the Syrian government is doing," he said, adding that state-operated Syrian television "is not credible and tells all kinds of lies."

Ford stopped short of calling for Assad to step down. The Obama administration has said the leader has lost all legitimacy to govern but has not directly called for his exit.

"We are going to try to ratchet up the pressure," Ford said, calling the violence against the protesters "grotesque" and "abhorrent."

Washington has been eyeing additional sanctions against Damascus, and on Friday the State Department urged U.S. citizens in Syria to "depart immediately while commercial transportation is available."

It also said "the Syrian government constraints on observers, including the short-term detention of accredited diplomats, have made it difficult for U.S. embassy personnel to adequately assess the current risks or the potential for continuing violence."