Canada has closed both its embassy and consulate in Syria as a response to the ongoing bloodshed in the country, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird announced Monday.
Baird spoke in Ottawa alongside Sheik Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, United Arab Emirates foreign minister.
"Effective immediately Canada is suspending its operations in our mission in Damascus," Baird said, adding that Canadian diplomats have now safely left Syria.
"We'll continue to work with our allies and to work with the international community to bring pressure to bear on the Assad regime and those backing him and to give the people of Syria the opportunity to build a better and brighter future for themselves and their families."
The UN says more than 7,500 people have been killed in the Syrian uprising.
"Now Canada has gone the full distance (on sanctions), what we have to do is ensure all the rest of the international community does the same thing -- to send a strong . . . message that this man (Assad) has got to go," Baird said on CTV's Power Play Monday.
"Like every Canadian, I see the huge humanitarian crisis, the number of people being killed and injured. Our big concern is with the humanitarian crisis there."
In a statement issued after the announcement, Baird said Canada has kept its envoys in the country while other nations pulled out, in order to continue to monitor developments on the ground and to deliver "tough and frank" messages to Syrian authorities.
"These messages will continue to be delivered directly through the Syrian embassy here in Ottawa and through our other international forums," the statement said.
It added that Canada implemented a voluntary evacuation of its citizens in Syria between Dec. 15 and Jan. 14. Those who have chosen to remain are at "considerable risk," and should now contact the Canadian embassy in Beirut for assistance leaving the country.
Earlier Monday, Baird announced new sanction on Syria, including a total ban on the provision or acquisition of financial or other related services, as well as sanctions on the Syrian central bank and seven high-ranking officials implicated in the violence.
Baird said the new measures represent the sixth round of sanctions imposed upon the Assad regime.
Kamran Bokhario, vice-president of Middle Eastern and South Asian affairs with global intelligence firm STRATFOR, told CTV News Channel that Canada is one of many governments to have pulled their diplomatic envoys from Syria in recent weeks.
"It's a small increment but it doesn't really change the mood in Damascus. They're not going to feel threatened to stop doing what they're doing," he said.
