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A high-level U.S. delegation will visit Syria

A high-level U.S. delegation will visit Syria this week — for the second time in just two months — to discuss how best to seal the Mideast state's border with Iraq, and how to stoke faltering peace talks between Syria and Israel.
Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman and White House Middle East envoy Daniel Shapiro will fly to the Syrian capital on Thursday, according to Arab diplomats who spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity.

The Obama administration's continuing outreach to Damascus comes just a few days after the release in Beirut of four Lebanese generals detained in connection with the 2005 murder of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. (CBS News)

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad urged the United States on to reach out to militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah as part of the search for Middle East peace, in an interview with French television.

Speaking to France 3, Assad welcomed what he said was a new willingness in Washington to listen to Syria's views since President Barack Obama took office, and said Damascus was ready to help broker contacts with the groups.

The United States regards both Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Palestinian group Hamas as terrorist movements, and does not recognise them, a stance which Assad said was counterproductive if Washington wanted to seek regional peace.

"I think the problem was with the previous administration," Assad said, criticising former US president George W. Bush and welcoming Obama's decision to send envoys to open a tentative dialogue with Syria.

"I think if you want to solve the problem you can't go about saying: 'This is good and this is bad, this is evil and this is democratic, this is human rights and this is not politics'," he said.

"Politics is when you deal with reality. When you deal with influential parties to influence the position in a positive or a negative way," he said, calling on the United States to talk to both Iran and the militant groups.

"Hamas has influence and you can not ignore them. You can't achieve peace while Hamas is outside this peace or against the peace," he said, adding that the same was true of Hezbollah. (AFP)

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