State Department Urges Americans to Leave Syria Immediately

The State Department on Friday urged Americans in Syria to leave the country immediately and advised those who remain in the country to restrict their movements, as the Syrian government intensified a violent crackdown on opposition protesters.

The warning came as congressional calls grew for the Obama administration to impose severe new sanctions on President Bashar Assad's regime.

In a new travel warning, the department said Americans should depart Syria while commercial flights and other transportation are still available "given the ongoing uncertainty and volatility of the situation."

It noted that Syrian authorities had imposed tight restrictions on the ability of U.S. and other diplomats to move around the country.

The advisory echoed a warning issued in late April when the department ordered the non-essential personnel and the families of all American staff at the U.S. Embassy in Damascus to leave the country.

But it came as the Assad regime has stepped up efforts to quell the uprising with military force, particularly in the opposition stronghold of Hama.