Pelosi arrives in Syria despite Bush’s criticism
US House Speaker dismisses criticism by White House, includes Damascus in Middle East tour
President George W. Bush criticized the trip, saying it sends mixed signals to President Bashar Assad.
The United States accuses Syria of interfering in Iraq and Lebanon and sponsoring terrorists - charges Syria denies. The Bush administration has resisted calls to open direct talks with Damascus on resolving the countries’ disputes.
Pelosi, a California Democrat, is scheduled to meet Assad and other Syrian officials on Wednesday. She made no comment on arrival and headed for the Old City of Damascus where she toured the 8th Century Omayyad Mosque.
In Washington, Bush said visits to Syria by US officials were “counterproductive”.
“A lot of people have gone to see President Assad ... and yet we haven’t seen action. He hasn’t responded,” he told reporters at a Rose Garden news conference.
He said Assad had not reined in violent elements of militant groups Hamas and Hizbullah as requested by the international community and had acted to destabilize the democratically elected government of Lebanon.
“Sending delegations doesn’t work. It’s simply been counterproductive,” Bush said.
Pelosi has shrugged off the criticism, pointing out that Republican members of Congress have also visited Syria. During a visit to neighboring Lebanon Monday, she said she considered the visits to be an “excellent idea” and was hopeful of rebuilding lost confidence between Washington and Damascus.
Cautious optimism
“We have no illusions but we have great hope,” she said. Syria treated the visit as a diplomatic victory. State-run newspapers published news of Pelosi’s trip on their front pages, with one daily publishing a photograph of Pelosi next to the headline: “Welcome Dialogue.”But there were some warnings against high expectations. Syria’s Ambassador to the United States, Imad Moustapha, described the visit as a “positive step” but said “it does not necessarily mean that the US administration would suddenly change its position” from Syria.
In comments to the state-run Al-Thawra daily published Tuesday, he said the visit should be a “reminder that even though we might disagree on politics, we should remain diplomatically engaged in dialogue to reach some understandings”.
Earlier Tuesday, Pelosi held talks with Mahmoud Abbas in his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where the Palestinian president told her he wanted to use his meetings with the Israeli prime minister as an avenue for restarting peace talks.
Pelosi is traveling with a delegation of US lawmakers, including the first Muslim member of Congress, Keith Ellison, D-Minn. The delegation is to next visit Syria, a sworn enemy of Israel.
Pelosi has said she will tell Syrian leaders that Israel will talk peace with them only if Syria stops supporting Palestinian militants.
She has said she will also talk to the Syrians about Iraq, their role in neighboring Lebanon and their support for Lebanon’s Hezbollah militants. She accused the White House of singling out her Syria visit for criticism.
“It’s interesting because three of our colleagues, who are all Republicans, were in Syria yesterday and I didn’t hear the White House speaking out about that,” Pelosi said, referring to the Sunday meeting of Reps. Frank Wolf, Joe Pitts and Robert Aderholt with Assad in Damascus.
“I think that it was an excellent idea for them to go,” said Pelosi, “And I think it’s an excellent idea for us to go, as well.”
