US to Swear in New Ambassador to Syria
VOA News 07 January 2011
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton swears in the new U.S. ambassador to Syria Friday.
President Barack Obama used a controversial strategy to appoint Robert Ford, who will be the nation's first ambassador to Syria in nearly six years.
Mr. Obama's predecessor, President George W. Bush, recalled the last U.S. envoy to Syria in 2005 after Lebanon's former prime minister Rafiq Hariri was killed. Syria was widely blamed for the bomb attack in which he died.
Mr. Obama pushed the Ford nomination through at the end of December using a constitutional power that enables him to make appointments without Senate approval when the body is in recess.
He first nominated the career diplomat last year, but the Senate refused to confirm him. Republicans had opposed sending any envoy to Syria, noting U.S. officials say the Middle Eastern country has provided support to terrorist organizations including Lebanon's Hezbollah.
The U.S. State Department designates Syria a "state sponsor of terrorism."
White House officials justified Mr. Obama's appointment of Ford and other officials during the Senate recess, saying the nominees had waited, on average, well over 100 days each for a confirmation vote.
Any appointment the president makes when the Senate is not in session remains valid until the end of the next session of Congress.
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