Obama and Clinton
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Assad: US to renew presence
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Syria: Clinton nomination proves Obama wants Mideast peace
Syrian source tells Qatari al-Watan that Hillary Clinton's appointment to office of secretary of state will 'render US a power for positive change' in world; peace talks with Israel expected to flourish
Syria
commended US president elect Barack Obama's appointment of Hillary Clinton to the office of secretary of state, and an official Syrian source told the Qatari al-Watan daily that the appointment highlights the new administration's commitment to achieving peace in the Middle East.
In the report published Wednesday, the source stressed the importance of Clinton's nomination to the resuscitation of the Israeli-Syrian peace talks, stressing that former US President Bill Clinton had invested a great deal of effort in the process.
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The Syrian official also commended Hillary Clinton for her commitment to "render the US a power for positive change" in the world by cooperating with the international community to solve global crises. He stressed that dialogue between Damascus and Washington was the only way to achieve positive change in the Middle East.
According to the source, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al- Moalem has determined that two major issues would guide his country in its dialogue with the US: The removal of its name from the blacklist of countries that support terrorism, and the rescinding of the Syria Accountability Act, passed by the Bush Administration.
The daily also reported that Syrian President Bashar Assad stated recently that Washington has begun to send "clear signals" to Damascus, by which it plans to return a US ambassador to Syria in the beginning of 2009.
