InfoAnda - Syria, US explore improving ties as Kerry visits

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Yahoo! My Yahoo! Mail Yahoo! Search Search: Sign InNew User? Sign Up News Home - Help Navigation Primary Navigation Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Secondary Navigation Africa Europe Latin America Middle East North America Search Search: Syria, US explore improving ties as Kerry visits By SAM F. GHATTAS,Associated Press Writer AP - 2 hours 56 minutes ago DAMASCUS, Syria - The United States and Syria are exploring the possibility of a new era of better relations after years of tension _ but questions remain over just how much common ground exists between the two. ADVERTISEMENT A key sign that President Barack Obama is seeking better ties is the flurry of U.S. congressmen who have passed through Syria in the last few days, including Sen. John Kerry, who arrived Saturday and met with President Bashar Assad. The State Department also announced Friday it has scheduled a meeting next week with Syria's ambassador to the U.S. to discuss outstanding differences between the two countries _ the first such meeting in months. U.S.-Syrian relations have long been tense. Damascus' support for the militant organizations Hamas and Hezbollah has drawn the ire of Washington, which has also accused Syria of allowing foreign fighters to cross into Iraq. Syria, which staunchly opposed the 2003 invasion, insists it is doing all it can to safeguard its long, porous border. Relations soured further when the Bush administration pulled the U.S. ambassador out of Syria in 2005 to protest Syria's suspected role in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Damascus denied involvement in his death, but in the uproar that followed, it was forced to withdraw its troops from Lebanon, ending a 29-year military presence. The congressional delegations, led by Democrats, are carrying the message that America wants to engage countries it's been at odds with if they're willing, as Obama puts it, to unclench their fists. On the face of it, the visits are proof of America's willingness to do away with the former Bush administration's policy of isolating Syria. For example, when former President Jimmy Carter and Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi came to Syria in 2007 and 2008 respectively, the Bush administration chastised them, saying their visits hurt U.S. interests. But the Congress members on separate visits to Syria _ including Kerry, Sen. Benjamin Cardin, of Maryland, and House Foreign Affair Committee Chairman Rep. Howard Berman, of California _ will likely find a White House that's ready to listen when they return home. There are concerns that new American openness toward Damascus may only be cosmetic, because the long-standing differences between the countries haven't changed much. Syria's ambassador to Washington described the congressional visits to Damascus as being "of extreme importance and depth." But he stressed he was still waiting to see if the visits change "the manner of dialogue between us and America." "Let us see what are the goals we all want to reach, where we agree, where we disagree," Imad Mustapha told The Associated Press in Damascus. Mustapha is to meet with Jeffrey D. Feltman, the acting assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, according to State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid, in the belief that direct engagement with Syria will advance U.S. interests. "Our concerns include Syria's support to terrorist groups and networks, Syria's pursuit of nuclear and unconventional weaponry, interference in Lebanon and a worsening human rights situation," he said Friday. Already during their trips to the Mideast, Kerry and Cardin repeated the previous American language demanding Damascus change its ways in terms of its ties to Iran and backing of militant groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Palestinian Hamas. But Assad has sent signals he wants to work with Washington. In an interview with the British newspaper The Guardian published this week, Assad said he was impressed by Obama's friendly gestures and welcomed the U.S. delegations to Syria. But he also said he's still waiting to see results. "We are still in the period of gestures and signals. There is nothing real yet," he said. Syrian political analyst Imad Shueibi was optimistic that U.S.-Syria relations would change from a period of "the wrestling of wills to the sharing of wills." "What is happening is not just checking the pulse," he said of the congressional visits. "It is an attempt to define the possible horizons in the relations ahead." 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