The US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, made a two-hour visit to Damascus last night during his four-day tour of the Middle East.
He has already visited Egypt, Israel, the Palestinian self-rule areas, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
Mr Powell was welcomed by the Syrian Foreign Minister, Mr Farouk al-Sharaa, and driven straight to the presidential palace for a meeting with President Bashar al-Assad, who succeeded his late father last June.
Since it is Syrian government policy that high-ranking officials should conduct such talks in Arabic, their discussion was through an interpreter, halving the actual exchange.
The Syrians were eager to hear from Mr Powell how the new US administration planned to revitalise the stalled Middle East peace process, while he took up the issue of Syria's growing rapprochement with Iraq.
Mr Powell also discussed ways of curbing attacks on Israel by Lebanon's Hizbullah guerrillas.
The US is seeking co-operation from Damascus on the reopening of the oil pipeline from the Kirkuk oil fields in Iraq to the Syrian Mediterranean port of Banias. Some 150,000-200,000 barrels a day of Iraqi crude, valued at $2 million, are being pumped through the pipeline and sold outside the UN-controlled oil-for-food programme.
In preparation for next month's Arab summit, Damascus has been seeking a common Arab stance on the question of the sanctions imposed on Iraq in 1990 following Baghdad's invasion of Kuwait.
Reuters reports:
Earlier in the day Mr Powell held talks with senior Saudi officials. He met the Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, in Riyadh and paid a courtesy call on King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah.
Speaking to reporters on his plane after the visit to Damascus Gen Powell said President Bashar al-Assad had agreed "three times" during their meeting to put the oil pipeline from Iraq under the UN sanctions system, including any revenues from Iraqi oil exports to Syria.
