The UK government has suspended operations at the British embassy in Damascus and withdrawn all diplomatic personnel as a result of the increasing violence in the Syrian capital.

William Hague, the UK Foreign Secretary, said in a written statement to parliament that the government was withdrawing diplomatic staff from Syria due to the continued unrest.

“We now judge that the deterioration of the security situation in Damascus puts our embassy staff and premises at risk, and have taken the decision to withdraw staff accordingly,” said Hague in the statement.

On 26 February, Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad opened a referendum on a new draft constitution. The proposed new constitution would omit the controversial Article 8 in the current constitution, which states that the ruling Baath Party is the “leader of state and society”.

However, the violence has continued and the UN now estimates that more than 7,500 people have been killed since the political unrest began in March last year.