DAMASCUS, Syria, April 4 (UPI) -- U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus Wednesday despite objections from the Bush administration.
Pelosi, a Democrat from California, is the highest-ranking U.S. politician to visit Syria since relations chilled in 2003 when the United States invaded neighboring Iraq.
There was no immediate word on the substance of the talks but a day before they began U.S. President George Bush suggested Pelosi's mission was sending mixed signals.
"Photo opportunities and/or meetings with President Assad lead the Assad government to believe they're part of the mainstream of the international community, when, in fact, they're a state sponsor of terror," Bush said in Washington.
Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Fayssal Mekdad told the BBC he was doubtful "in a first visit of this type with such an administration in the United States we can reach the expected results."
The United States along with the European Union have criticized Syria's regional policies and its support for Hezbollah militants in Lebanon and the Palestinian Hamas movement.
