The U.S. ambassador to Syria has returned to Damascus six weeks after he was pulled out over safety concerns. In Washington, State Department spokesperson Mark Toner said the ambassador, Robert Ford, will continue to oversee the U.S. response to the Syrian crackdown on opposition protesters.

Mark Toner: “We felt that there was a sense of urgency to get him back on the ground. You know, we’ve long said that was feel he is fulfilling a very essential role, along with, I might add, ambassadors from other countries like Germany and the U.K. and France, as witnesses to what’s going on there, as interlocutors with the Syrian opposition, and as a steady and persistent voice of outrage against the Syrian government.”