A senior US envoy said Saturday he held "very constructive" talks with Syrian officials but cautioned not to expect immediate results, in a visit that raised hopes for the Obama administration's effort to ease the rivalry between the two countries.
US Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman talks to reporters in Damascus, Saturday.
SLIDESHOW: Israel & Region | World Damascus has also signaled interest in better relations, but both sides remain cautious over whether they can surmount their key differences, including Syria's backing for terrorists and its alliance with Iran. The visit was ignored by state-run newspapers.
"This is a very constructive discussion," said Jeffrey Feltman, the top US State Department envoy to the Mideast, who was visiting Damascus with Daniel Shapiro from the White House. He spoke after the two met with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem.
The Obama administration's decision to send Feltman and Shapiro to Syria was the most significant sign yet that it is ready to improve relations after years of tension. RELATEDClinton: 2 US officials visiting Syria
Feltman said he "found a lot of common ground" with Syrian officials but cautioned that working out the differences between the two countries "will require more work."
"We will be looking at the choices," Feltman told reporters. "But let's not expect that things are going to change dramatically from today until tomorrow."
Syria said the two sides agreed on the importance of continuing discussions "to achieve goals that serve common interests and bring about peace and stability to the region," according to Syria's official news agency.
Improving ties could lead to eased economic and diplomatic sanctions imposed by Washington. US sanctions have idled some Syrian passenger jets for lack of spare parts, stifled bank transfers and technology imports.
America has long wanted Syria to drop support for Hizbullah and Hamas, groups which have undermined Mideast peace efforts.
The US would also like to peel Syria from its ally Iran, which Washington accuses of supporting Shi'ite militias in Iraq and pursuing a nuclear program to develop weapons - charges Teheran denies.
Syria has so far rejected abandoning its ally and has said it can mediate between the Islamic state and the West over the country's nuclear program.
Washington also needs Syria to prevent anti-American Islamic militants from crossing its border into Iraq - something the US has accused Damascus of failing to do in the past.
Syria also has influence with Palestinian and Lebanese factions sworn to the destruction of Israel. Syria has rejected calls to drop its support, arguing a comprehensive peace would remove the need for the groups' terrorist activity.
For Syria, comprehensive peace must include a return of the Golan Heights that Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. Syria has held indirect peace talks with Israel through Turkish mediation last year, but Damascus has insisted US mediation is key.
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the envoys were sent for "preliminary conversations" when she announced the visit earlier this week and played down expected results from the diplomatic push.
It was not clear whether the US envoys would meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad. Feltman said when the US planned the meeting they did not request to meet with specific Syrian officials.
The US withdrew its ambassador to Syria in 2005 following the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in Beirut. The killing was widely blamed on Syria - a charge Damascus denies.
On the Syrian side, Assad has welcomed improved ties, something he has long sought but was hampered by the Bush administration's attempts to isolate his country. Assad has said he is impressed by Obama's friendly gestures but was still waiting for results.
Imad Mustapha, Syria's ambassador to Washington, said during a telephone interview from Washington that he noticed a change in the Americans' tone in his recent meeting with Feltman in the US capital.
"They've given up on the idea of Syria has to do this and that," he said.
US Sen. John Kerry, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who last month met with Assad in Damascus, proposed this week that the United States provide "financial incentives" to encourage Syria to make peace with Israel. He said it benefits Syria if Assad looks west for new relationships and added that "sanctions can always be tightened again if Syria backtracks."
