DAMASCUS, 11 November 2004 — Syrian President Bashar Assad yesterday renewed his country’s call for dialogue with the United States to improve strained relations.

Assad spoke during a meeting with US Congressman Gary Ackerman, a Democrat from New York, Syria’s official news agency, SANA, reported.

SANA said the talks centered on the regional situation, including developments in Iraq and the occupied Palestinian territories, “as well as the Middle East peace process, terrorism and ways of combating it.”

The talks also dealt with strained Syrian-US relations, with Assad stressing the importance of dialogue “and the need to continue it for the benefit of the two countries.”

A press release issued by the American Cultural Center in Damascus said Ackerman’s talks with Assad covered “a full range of topics relating to US-Syria relations and regional issues.”

Ackerman told reporters upon arrival in Damascus Tuesday that he and Assad would discuss “what is happening in the region and what opportunities might be in the region and what the United States can do to encourage the good things to happen in the region.”

On Syrian-US relations, Ackerman said, “I think it could be better. And I think we all have to work on that on both sides. And I’d like to see that happen.”

Ackerman, who arrived from Egypt, was scheduled to leave for Jordan later yesterday.

US-Syrian relations, never smooth, have soured in recent months over Washington’s claims that Damascus has been doing too little to secure the border to prevent militants from crossing into Iraq to fight US-led coalition forces. Washington and the United Nations have also called on Damascus to withdraw thousands of troops from Lebanon, based there since the early stages of the 1975-90 civil war.

Last year, the US imposed sanctions on Syria, which is on a US State Department list of state supporters of terrorism.

Syria has refused American demands to expel leaders of anti-Israeli Palestinian militants groups, come clean on its alleged pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and relinquish its control over Lebanon.

Syrian government newspaper Tishrin yesterday denounced the US-led attack on the Iraqi city of Fallujah as “a terrible humanitarian massacre.”

It said the attack on Fallujah would increase violence in Iraq and further complicate the security situation ahead of an international conference on Iraqi reconstruction later this month at the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh.

“The brutal bombardment and inhuman crimes in Iraq, especially in Fallujah, will increase violence and destroy all chances to make the Sharm El-Sheikh conference a success,” the paper said in an editorial.