WORLD / Middle East
Syria says it wants talks with US
(AP)
Updated: 2007-03-13 07:25
DAMASCUS, Syria - Syria told a visiting U.S. State Department official
Monday that it is willing to engage in "serious" dialogue with Washington
on all Middle East issues, just days after both countries attended a
conference in Baghdad on restoring security to Iraq.
Ellen Sauerbrey, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for population,
refugees and migration, is the most senior American official to visit
Syria since the U.S. withdrew its ambassador following the 2005
assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
U.S. officials rarely visit Syria, although Washington has said in recent
months it wants to reach out to Damascus over the fate of the estimated
1.5 million Iraqi refugees that have sought sanctuary in Syria since the
beginning of the Iraq war.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack stressed that Sauerbrey's trip
was not a "bilateral mission," saying she was accompanying the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees on a humanitarian visit to discuss the refugee
crisis.
Her visit, however, comes days after an international conference was held
in Baghdad bringing together Syrian, Iranian and U.S. officials to
discuss security in Iraq.
Syria has frequently called for dialogue with the U.S., but President
Bush had previously rejected any direct talks with officials from Syria
and Iran, accusing both of them of supporting an influx of foreign
fighters into Iraq. Both countries have repeatedly denied the charges.
U.S.-Syrian relations have also been strained in recent years because of
Damascus' support for Palestinian militant groups and the Lebanese
Hezbollah. The U.S. withdrew its ambassador from Syria to protest
Hariri's assassination, which many Lebanese blame on Damascus. Syria has
denied being involved.
Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Fayssal Mekdad told reporters following a
one-hour meeting with Sauerbrey that none of the region's problems will
be solved without dialogue and cooperation.
"All the issues in the Arab world are related to each other and it is
necessary to have comprehensive dialogue on all these issues," he said.
Sauerbrey refused to make any comments following the meeting. In
Washington, State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said she had
called on Syria to work with the Iraqi government, as well as with the
UNHCR, to provide protection and assistance for Iraqi refugees.
In response, Syria expressed a willingness to continue hosting the
displaced Iraqis while also noting the challenges it poses for the
government, Casey said. Sauerbrey met alone with the Syrians because a
UNHCR official who was supposed to have attended could not be present, he
said.
Last month, the Damascus office of the UNHCR said about 40,000 new Iraqis
arrive in Syria each month, almost double the rate from only a few months
ago. The refugees have placed a strain on Syria, causing a rise in the
prices of housing and goods and overcrowding the country's schools.
The Interior Ministry said in December that Syria has admitted more than
800,000 Iraqis fleeing the raging violence in their country. Unofficial
statistics have put the number at about 1.5 million refugees.
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