U.S. envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell has arrived in Damascus late Saturday in a move to seek Syria's help in the Middle East peace process, the pan-Arab al-Jazeera TV reported.
This is Mitchell's second visit to Syria since he took his post in January.
Mitchell did not make any remarks after his arrival at Damascus airport Saturday, according to al-Jazeera.
The U.S. envoy is scheduled to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad on Sunday. The two may discuss bilateral relations and the possibility of resuming Syrian-Israeli peace talks, al-Jazeera said.
Syria looks Mitchell's visit as positive. Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said on Friday after meeting with his British counterpart David Miliband in London that Syria is looking forward to Mitchell's visit as "the first step of dialogue," which will help to rebuild diplomatic ties between Washington and Damascus.
Meanwhile, U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said on Thursday that the envoy's visit is to "see what Syria's prepared to do, to move towards a comprehensive process," according to al-Jazeera.
"We're also trying to develop bilateral issues that we have with the Syrians as well. I would imagine both of those will come up," he added.
The U.S. Barack Obama administration has tried to re-engage Syria as the country, neighboring Israel and Iraq, plays an important role in the Middle East peace process.
Obama decided last month to return an ambassador to Syria after a four-year diplomatic absence. The decision followed a series of recent visits to Damascus by a number of high-level U.S. military and diplomatic delegations.
"There are aspects of Syrian behavior that trouble us and we think that there is a way that Syria can be much more constructive on a whole host of these issues," Obama said in a recent interview with Sky News TV channel.
"But, as you know, I'm a believer in engagement and my hope is that we can continue to see progress on that front," he said.
(Xinhua News Agency July 26, 2009)
