Assad welcomes U.S. readiness for dialogue and hopes U.S. ambassador to Damascus will soon return to Damascus

Said Dhaher
For Al-Shorfa.com
2009-02-23

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (R) shakes hands with U.S. Senator Benjamin Cardin before a meeting in Damascus on Feb. 18. (Reuters/SANA (Syria))

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad welcomed U.S. President Barack Obama’s efforts to promote dialogue between their two countries and said he would like to see full diplomatic relations restored with Washington.

“We have the impression that this Administration will be different”, the Syrian President said. “We have seen signs to suggest this, but we must be patient and look at the reality. We will act on results.”

Referring to a visit by a high level U.S. Congressional delegation to Damascus as “significant” and “a positive sign”, President Assad also expressed the hope that Washington would send an ambassador to Syria to give a sound footing to relations between the two countries.

Assad went on to say that he hoped the U.S. would take up the role of “principal broker” in the Middle East peace process while cautioning against any underestimation of Syria’s role in this process. “Syria is a principal player in the region, and if you want to talk of peace there is no going forward without Syria.” Responding to Obama’s call to Syria to abandon its “clenched fist” approach, Assad said, “We are not clenching our fists, not at all. We have continued to speak of peace even throughout Israel’s aggression on Gaza.”

The U.S. diplomatic representation in Damascus has been limited to the level of Chargé d’affaires since the recall of its ambassador in February 2005 following the assassination of the Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Al-Hariri. Syria’s allies in Lebanon believe that the procession of U.S. delegations arriving in Damascus in the early days of the new U.S. administration, among them most recently Sen. John Kerry in his capacity as the chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, points to the possibility of the turning of a new page in relations between Damascus and Washington after years of tension.

Speaking in Beirut about his visit to Damascus, Kerry said, “We are hopeful of seeing changes in Syria’s attitude towards Iraq and Lebanon. We want Syria to respect the political independence of Lebanon and to assist in the process of resolving matters with Hezbollah and the Palestinians and in securing the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701.”

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