US envoy talks up Syrian Mideast role

BASHAR ASSAD: President Assad's government can be a constructive force in Mideast says US envoy. (Getty Images)

Syria can be an important and constructive force in the Middle East, a senior US envoy said in Damascus on Saturday, as Washington pursues a new policy of engaging with all countries in the region, even long-time foes.

Jeffrey Feltman said he and fellow envoy Daniel Shapiro held the "view that Syria can play an important and constructive role in the region," in a conference call with reporters in Washington after four hours of talks with Foreign Minister Walid Muallem and other officials.

Feltman and Shapiro arrived in Damascus earlier on Saturday for the first high-level contacts in four years, after talks on Friday with leaders in neighbouring Lebanon, once dominated by Syria.

"We found a lot of common ground today," Feltman, the acting secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, said without elaborating.

He said the talks were "consistent with the message" from President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who "have stated the desire to use engagement with all countries in the region in order to address issues of mutual concern."

Syrian state news agency SANA said the two sides had agreed on the "importance of pursuing bilateral dialogue to achieve objectives that serve the common interests of both countries."

In particular, it pointed to "achieving a comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East."

Washington recalled its ambassador to Syria following the 2005 assassination of Lebanon's ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, widely blamed on Syria.

Damascus denied any involvement, but withdrew its troops from Lebanon two months later, ending almost three decades of domination.

Speaking in Beirut on Friday, Feltman had said "we'll talk to the Syrians about many many issues but about Lebanon, the message is clear: the US and the international community ... all agree Lebanon is for the Lebanese."

Feltman is also a former ambassador to Lebanon, while Shapiro is senior Middle East and North Africa director at the National Security Council.

US-Syrian ties were especially tense under former president George W. Bush, who accused Damascus of supporting terrorism and of turning a blind eye to the flow of arms and supplies to insurgents in Iraq.

Last month, several US lawmakers, including Senate foreign relations committee chairman John Kerry, visited Damascus for talks with President Bashar al-Assad. The Syrian leader has repeatedly called for a dialogue with Washington, describing it as a key referee in Middle East peace talks.

Feltman sought to defuse tensions when asked how active Damascus remained in supporting what Washington has called terrorist groups.

"We have got concerns with Syria. I'm sure Syria has concerns with us. Today was an opportunity to start to raise some of these concerns with each other directly in addition to the dialogue that takes place already between our embassies."

Syria is on a US blacklist for allegedly supporting terrorism because it hosts the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and supports Lebanon's Hezbollah, both at war with key US ally Israel.

"My job today was not finger-pointing per se," Feltman said. "My job today was to discuss a whole variety of bilateral, regional, international issues where we do have differences. In some cases we have overlapping interests."

Arguing that engagement was a way to start bridging differences, he said opportunities for further talks will be sought in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, Feltman called for patience when asked about indirect Turkish-brokered peace talks between Syria and Israel last year that were suspended during Israel's recent war on Hamas in Gaza.

"The United States wants a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace," he said.

"There will be a Syrian-Israel track at some point," he said, adding that "at this point, though, we need to be a bit patient" as Israel works on forming a new government after elections last month.

He said leading Middle East envoy George Mitchell was focusing for now on the Palestinian-Israeli track of the negotiations, but "his mandate does include comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace."

"So we do want to see forward momentum on the Syrian-Israeli track at the time when the parties are ready ... for this."

Feltman said he and Shapiro would return to Beirut on Sunday for more talks before heading back to the United States via Europe.

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