US delegation visiting the Syrian Foreign Ministry

(1 Apr 2007)
1. US delegation arriving at meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al-Moualem
2. Frank Wolf, Virginia Republican Representative, speaking to Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al-Moualem
3. Various of meeting
4. Wolf, Al-Moualem and delegation leaving meeting
5. Cars driving past
STORYLINE:
Three US House of Representatives members are visiting Syria - a country US President George W Bush considers a state sponsor of terrorism - to discuss US-Syria relations and regional issues, a US Embassy statement said.
Frank Wolf, a Virginia Republican; Pennsylvania Republican Joe Pitts and Alabama Republican Robert Aderholt met Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al-Moualem in the Syrian capital Damascus on Sunday.
The meeting comes just days ahead of Leader of the US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's planned visit to Syria, despite being asked not to go by the White House administration.
US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the White House tried to discourage Pelosi and the other members of her delegation from visiting Syria, but agreed to give their staff a pre-trip briefing, adding that the US Embassy in Damascus was also expected to assist the delegation.
The Syria visit is part of a Middle East tour which includes stops in Israel, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.
Pelosi's delegation arrived in Israel on Friday on a fact-finding trip to the Middle East - her second since taking over as Speaker of the House in January.
Pelosi's repeat trip indicates she has no intention of letting the White House have the sole province on foreign policy. It's also a direct affront to the Bush administration, which says such diplomatic overtures by US lawmakers can do more harm than good.
Pelosi will not be the first member of Congress in recent months to travel to Syria, but as House Speaker she is the most senior.
Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly said the delegation intends to discuss a wide range of security issues affecting the United States and the Middle East with representatives of governments in the region, including Syria, as recommended by the Iraq Study Group.
The Iraq Study Group, an independent bipartisan commission, suggested in December that engaging Syria and Iran could help the war effort in Iraq.
The Bush administration eventually agreed to talk to the two countries, but only to discuss Iraq.
US officials held their first direct, high-level contact with Syrian representatives in years when they met this month with officials from several Middle East countries in Baghdad to discuss Iraq.

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