Senator defies Bush, meets with Syria's Assad

Senator defies Bush, meets with Syria's Assad
Democrat Bill Nelson ignores State Department's disapproval

Shrugging off Bush policy, U.S. senator meets Syrian president

In a direct affront to the Bush administration, a Democratic United States senator spent an hour Wednesday with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus, asking him to do more to stabilize Iraq.

Senator Bill Nelson, a member of the Armed Services and Foreign Relations
committees, met with Assad after the State Department said that it disapproved of his trip.

The U.S. has limited diplomatic ties with Syria because of its support of Hezbollah and Hamas, which the U.S. deems terrorist organizations, and U.S. President George W. Bush has expressed reluctance to seek help from Damascus on Iraq until the Syrians curb that support and reduce their influence in Lebanon.

Nelson, a Democrat, was named to the Senate Intelligence Committee this week and said he was on a fact-finding mission to the region. He left later for Amman, Jordan.

Syrian officials say Damascus is encouraged by the report by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, which urged President George W. Bush to abandon his policy of trying to isolate Syria and Iran and resume attempts to end the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Assad "clearly indicated a willingness to cooperate" in controlling its border with Iraq, Nelson told reporters in a conference call following the meeting with Assad. The U.S. says foreign fighters often enter Iraq across that boundary.

Nelson said he reported the information to embassy officials and will brief his congressional committees on the trip. He said he expects Senators John Kerry, Christopher Dodd and Arlen Specter to also visit Syria.

The White House said it does not encourage members of Congress to travel to Syria.

"We don't think that members of Congress ought to be going there," White House press secretary Tony Snow said, adding that the United States continues to denounce Syria's meddling in Lebanon and its ties to terrorist groups.

"We've talked to Syria. We have diplomatic relations with Syria. I think it's a real stretch to think the Syrians don't know where we stand or what we think. It's not as if there's been failure to communicate. The communication has been crystal clear.

Washington imposed sanctions on Syria in 2004, mainly for backing the Palestinian Hamas movement and the Shi'ite Hezbollah group in Lebanon.

Hezbollah has been leading peaceful protests for almost two weeks aimed at toppling the U.S.-backed government in Beirut.

Syria's opposition to the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq has contributed to a further deterioration in ties with Washington.

Damascus, however, has been adopting a friendlier tone with the U.S.-backed government in Baghdad. Some senior members of the Shi'ite-led Iraqi government have links with Iran, which is a main ally of Syria.

Syria and Iraq re-opened their embassies in each other's capitals on Monday, ending more than two decades of diplomatic boycott since Syria sided with Iran during the Iraq-Iran war.