Pelosi meets with Syrian leaders in defiance of Bush

Emerging from a much-criticized meeting and luncheon with the president of Syria on Wednesday, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters she had assurances from the Syrian leader that he was willing to discuss peace with Israel.

Speaking in the Syrian capital of Damascus, Pelosi said the delegation told Syrian President Bashar Assad about Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's willingness to engage in peace talks with Syria.

She did not say more about Olmert's message, which was conditional on Syria cutting off its alleged support for hardline Palestinian groups as well as Hezbollah.

"We were very pleased with the assurances we received from [president Assad] that he was ready to resume the peace process," she said at a news conference later.

"He's ready to engage in negotiations for peace with Israel."

Pelosi said she also raised her concerns with Assad about kidnapped Israeli soldiers being held by Hezbollah and Hamas, as well as concerns that insurgents were crossing from his country into Iraq.

ChallengedU.S. foreign policy

The Californian Democrat's remarks came at the end of her two-day visit to Syria, which had met strong objection from the White House.

U.S. President George W. Bush had characterized Pelosi's trip to Syria as a challenge to U.S. foreign policy, which has since 2005 shunned the Syrian leadership, claiming the country supports terrorism in the Mideast and backs the Hezbollah and Hamas militant groups.

The U.S. also claims Syria allows Iraqi Sunni insurgents to operate from within its territory, but Syria has denied all the accusations.

Travelling to Syria would do nothing to change the Syrian leadership's minds, Bush argued, pointing out that past members of Congress have made similar but ultimately futile trips.

Mingled with locals in a market

"A lot of people have gone to see President Assad … and yet we haven't seen action," Bush told reporters in the Rose Garden on Tuesday. "Sending delegations doesn't work. It's simply been counter-productive."

Pelosi countered that Republican legislators met Assad the previous Sunday, yet there was no comment from the Bush administration in that case.

She did not comment on Bush's remarks Tuesday as she headed from the airport to Damascus' historic Old City, where she mingled with locals in a market.

Her stop in Damascus is front-page news in Syria and locals view the gesture of engagement as a possible breakthrough to solve the impasse between Syria and the rest of the world, reports have said.

Separate talks with foreign minister, VP

Along with her delegation, Pelosi began Wednesday's dialogues by holding separate talks with Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem and Vice-President Farouk al-Sharaa before speaking to Assad and following up with a lunch.

Democrats have taken the position that the U.S. should engage with its top rivals in the Middle East — Iran and Syria — in order to make headway in easing crises in Iraq, Lebanon and the Israeli-Arab peace process. The bipartisan Iraq Study Group last year also recommended dialogues with the two countries, but Bush rejected the suggestion.

Pelosi said she hoped to rebuild lost confidence between Washington and Damascus. Before her, the last high-ranking U.S. official to visit Syria was then-deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage in January 2005.