SYRIA: U.S. Congress delegation arrives in Damascus ahead of planned visit by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Record ID: 279776

  • Title: SYRIA: U.S. Congress delegation arrives in Damascus ahead of planned visit by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
  • Date: 1st April 2007
  • Summary: (BN11) DAMASCUS, SYRIA (MARCH 31, 2007) (REUTERS) U.S. CONGRESS DELEGATION ARRIVING AT THE SYRIAN MINISTRY OF RELIGIOUS ENDOWMENTS VARIOUS OF THE MEETING BETWEEN THE DELEGATION AND THE SYRIAN MUFTI AHMAD HASSOUN (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SYRIAN MUFTI, AHMAD HASSOUN, SAYING: "The Bush Administration is trying to make up for its mistakes in the two remaining years for Republicans
  • Embargoed: 16th April 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA8WM1EGGILDS87RYVUMACDJC8T
  • Story Text: The delegation was also expected to meet Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem.
    The Bush administration on Friday (March 30) condemned plans by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to visit Syria and possibly meet its president.
    "The Bush Administration is trying to make up for its mistakes in the two remaining years for Republicans in the White House. It is trying to prepare the atmosphere for the next elections after two years. Now we (Syria) influence the American politics. We were influenced by these politics but now we have started to influence them and we will influence more in the future," Syrian Mufti Ahmad Hassoun said after meeting the delegation.
    Pelosi, who is third in line to the presidency, is already in Israel and will meet senior leaders there as well as address the Knesset, or parliament, in coming days. She was expected to visit Damascus and Beirut next week.
    Despite the Bush administration opposition, the State Department said it had briefed Pelosi's staff and was prepared to help on the ground in Syria.
    A handful of Republican and Democratic lawmakers visited Damascus and met Assad in December after the bipartisan Iraq Study Group recommended a stepped-up diplomatic effort involving Syria and Iran to help calm the violence in Iraq.
    The Bush administration has resisted that recommendation and condemned the lawmakers' visits.
    Syria has denied it allows insurgents to cross over from its territory into Iraq and argues Iraq and the United States have not done enough to police the border.
    State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Damascus typically used such visits as proof to the rest of the world that nothing was wrong with its policies.
    U.S. and Syrian officials participated in a broader regional meeting in Iraq this month, aimed at stabilizing the country.
    Earlier this month, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Ellen Sauerbrey held talks with a senior Syrian diplomat on how Damascus was coping with a flood of Iraqi refugees, the first such talks in the Syrian capital for more than two years.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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