DAMASCUS, Syria, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- A senior U.S. diplomat is in Syria as part of President Barack Obama's outreach to improve bilateral relations, officials said.
U.S. diplomat Robert Burns said he had "candid" talks Wednesday with Syrian President Bashar Assad on improving relations between the two countries and recent developments in the Middle East, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
"We talked candidly about areas in which we disagree, but also identified areas of common ground on which we can build," Burns said in a statement.
Besides discussing ways to improve bilateral relations, Burns and Assad also acknowledged the need for "continued constructive and serious dialogue," official Syrian news agencies reported.
U.S. officials have said Assad as crucial to the administration's broader foreign policy initiatives in the Middle East, the Journal said. Among other things, Washington would like to persuade Damascus to end support of militant groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas, revisit its relationship with Iran and possibly play a role in the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations if Syria resumes talks with Israel.
Burns's visit to Damascus came a day after Obama said he would nominate Robert Ford as the first U.S. ambassador to Syria since 2005. The United States pulled its envoy after the slaying of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Western leaders said Syria was involved in Hariri's death, which Syrian officials denied.
