Press release

No.: 16/06
Date: 05.02.2006

Norway condemns the attacks on the Norwegian and the Danish embassies in Damascus on Saturday.

The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs advises all Norwegian citizens in Syria to leave the country and discourages all travel to Syria. The Norwegian Embassy will assist in this matter and will stay in close contact with the Danish Embassy and with the Austrian Embassy as representative of the EU Presidency.

To the best of the Embassy’s knowledge, no Norwegian citizens have been injured in the demonstrations in Damascus. Thirty-five Norwegian citizens are known to be in Syria.

Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre has made it clear to Syrian Foreign Minister Al Sharaa that Norway considers the incident to be totally unacceptable. Mr Støre stressed that the Syrian authorities are responsible for protecting the embassy and embassy personal. Mr Al Sharaa said that he deeply deplored what had happened and that it could not be condoned under any circumstances.

Foreign Minister Støre has discussed the situation with colleagues in the region and elsewhere.

The Embassy discussed the matter of security with the Syrian authorities as recently as this past Thursday and requested that security measures should be intensified.

The Danish and the Norwegian embassies in Cairo have had talks with the Arab League regarding the serious situation in Damascus.

The Norwegian Embassy in Damascus will be reinforced with personnel from the embassy in Amman.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has instructed embassies in other countries to inform their respective host governments about the serious situation in Damascus and request them to take any necessary precautionary measures.

Any enquiries regarding the situation in Syria may be addressed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, telephone no.: +47 22 24 20 20. The Ministry’s home page will be updated on a regular basis. As the embassy in Damascus is not accessible by telephone at the moment, all enquiries are to be addressed to the Ministry.