OTTAWA - Canada is closing its embassy in Damascus.

Foreign Affairs says all Canadian diplomats have now left Syria.

The department says any Canadians remaining in Syria can still access consulate services through Beirut.

The closure comes as Canada imposes yet another round of sanctions against Syria, including a freeze on the assets of the country's central bank.

The new measures include a complete ban on the provision or acquisition of financial or other related services, as well as the asset freeze on the central bank and seven high-ranking ministers implicated in the violence.

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird says the deteriorating security situation in Syria forced the closure of the embassy.

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