Washington: The United States is assessing its isolation policy of Syria in the final months of the Bush administration but is unlikely to return an ambassador to Damascus any time soon, said US officials and experts.
A senior US official said there were talks on how best Washington could 'influence' Damascus, particularly following the recent rapprochement between France and Syria, with President Nicolas Sarkozy's visit to Damascus last month. "We are seeing if there is some advantage in how we reconfigure ourselves diplomatically," said the official, who asked not to be named as the issue is sensitive.
He said that Washington's move came amid some 'encouraging signs' by Syria, such as its help in brokering the election of Lebanon's president and decision to have diplomatic ties with the neighbour it dominated militarily for nearly three decades.
In a sign of a possible thaw, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al Mua'alem on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly at the end of last month, their third meeting in 18 months.
Mua'alem talks
Mua'alem told Dubai-based channel Al Arabiya his talks with Rice were 'positive' and 'an introduction to dialogue.'
The State Department's lead diplomat on the Middle East, David Welch, followed up with a lengthy discussion with Mua'alem in New York, saying "We are looking for ways to improve and make more effective our effort to get them to change their behaviour," said the senior official of both Welch and Rice's talks.
US relations have been particularly frosty with Syria since the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, which Washington says Syria was likely involved in.
