Robert Ford attends Syrian funeral shortly before attack

U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford keeps putting himself in harm’s way. This Sunday, he attended the funeral of a Syrian activist shortly before it was attacked by Syrian security forces.

"US amb. Robert Ford shows up at the wake of slain #syria activist Giyath Matar. An hour later the funeral tent is trashed by security forces," tweeted Washington Post foreign correspondent Liz Sly Tuesday afternoon.

We found a video that shows Ford at the funeral, which took place on Sept. 11. The State Department today confirmed to The Cable that he was in attendance. We also found a video (warning: graphic) of Matar’s tortured and mutilated body, posted by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has been meticulously documenting cases of alleged abuse against domestic protesters by the Syrian security forces.

"Security forces corpse [sic] submitted his corpse to his family and told them that you can make from his body a ‘Shawerma’ sandwich!!!" the human rights organization reported.

Ford, who was installed as the U.S. envoy to Damascus in a recess appointment, was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today. But unless he can overcome a tough confirmation fight on the Senate floor, he will be forced to return to Washington at the end of the year.

The group also posted a video of the body of Ahmad Sulaiman Ayrut, who they allege was killed in the government attack on Matar’s funeral.

The State Department condemned Matar’s killing at a Monday press briefing, but only later confirmed to The Cable Ford’s attendance at the funeral. So far, State has not commented on the violence at the funeral.

"This was a very high-profile human rights activist in Syria, apparently arrested on September 6th and died in custody — again, further evidence of this regime’s brutality, indiscriminate force, and absolute disregard for human life and for the human rights of its citizens," said spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.

There was no mention of Ford’s attendance on the U.S. embassy of Damascus’s Facebook page. The last Facebook posting by Ford came on Sept. 8, where he references threats being made on his life by supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"[Commenter] Mujtaba Xr warns me that I will face being killed if I continue my criticism of the repression in Syria. I take his post to be a perfectly good example of the kind of intolerance that has provoked such discontent in Syria," Ford wrote. "Remember that I am one of the few international observers here on the ground; if only the Syrian government would allow international media to move around the country freely like we did in Iraq!"

Ford’s close call comes only two weeks after he was physically assaulted by a regime supporter while standing outside an anti-government sit-in by some lawyers at the Syrian Bar Association. The State Department didn’t say anything about that incident either, until it was reported by The Cable.

Of course, it’s possible that Ford is actually trying to get himself kicked out of Syria by the Assad regime. That would allow the Obama administration to spotlight Assad’s intolerance and allow the State Department to avoid a fight over Ford’s Senate confirmation.