Syrian President, First Lady Praise Obama

DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria's leader praised President Barack Obama's outreach for dialogue and invited him to visit Damascus in remarks released Friday just days after the United States said it plans to return its ambassador to Syria after a four year absence.

Syrian President Bashar Assad comments came in a telegram he sent to Obama on the occasion of the July 4 Independence Day and in an interview he gave to Britain's Sky News.

Also on Sky News, Syria's First Lady Asma al Assad said she envisioned her husband, Bashar, and Barack Obama joining forces.

"The fact is President Obama is young," al Assad said, "and President Assad is also very young as well, so maybe it is time for these young leaders to make a difference in the world."

President Assad's comments also come a month after Obama outlined in a historic speech in Egypt his determination to broker peace among Israel and its Arab neighbors and improve U.S. relations in the region.

"The values that were adopted by President Obama during his election campaign and after he was elected president are values that the world needs today," Assad said in the telegram that was carried by state-run news agency SANA.

"It is very important to adopt the principle of dialogue in relations with countries based on respect and mutual interest," Assad said.

In June, U.S Mideast envoy George Mitchell visited Damascus and met Assad in the highest visit by a U.S. official in more than four years. Mitchell's visit followed two separate trips in the past few months by senior U.S. officials Jeffrey Feltman, acting assistant secretary of state, and Daniel Shapiro, a Middle East expert at the White House.

The Obama administration hopes the diplomatic outreach will encourage Syria to play a positive role in both the Mideast peace process and also in Iraq.

In an interview with Sky News, Assad invited Obama to visit Damascus in order to discuss Mideast peace.

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"We would like to welcome him (Obama) in Syria, definitely. I am very clear about this," Assad said in English. Asked whether such a visit could take place soon, Assad said: "That depends on him."

He added with a smile, "I will ask you to convey the invitation to him."

The Obama administration has stepped up pressure on Arab countries to help resume Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and pursue a peace deal with the Jewish state themselves. Syria is seen as a key player in this process because of its support for the Palestinian militant group Hamas that controls the Gaza Strip and its intermittent peace talks with Israel.

Syria held four rounds of indirect talks with Israel last year, mediated by Turkey. But the discussions were halted during the Israeli offensive on Gaza in December and January.

Last week, Presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama's plans to send back an ambassador to Syria.

The U.S. withdrew its ambassador to Syria in 2005 after the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Some Lebanese politicians blamed Syria for the assassination, a claim that Damascus denies.

The U.S. also has accused Syria of not doing enough to stop the infiltration of militants to fight U.S. and allied forces in neighboring Iraq.

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Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.

Comments

[LMPE]

It's very strange to have a president who actually seeks to have a dialogue with the world as opposed to "Yer with us or yer against us."

[grandma58]

Very refreshing as well!

[NoSillyName]

The "We don't talk to our enemies" policy is high on the list of stupid president tricks.

[Khirad]

I actually think there might be hope for Bashar al-Assad. His case is an interesting one. And his wife, like King Hussein's, gives us a possible peak into his private views - he always struck me as a reluctant autocrat - to a certain extent, at least at first. Syria is of vital interest to both a safe Palestinian state, and with Iran. I know we get a lot of flack for dealing with such regimes as Saudi Arabia and Egypt, etc., but sometimes reality trumps ideals. You have to deal with the geopolitics you're dealt not the geopolitics you want.

Thank you President Barack Hussein Obama for being sensible!

[jcko]

This is the best posting written thus far.

Whether we agree w/ it or not, we should think about it.

[NoSillyName]

Yet so many Americans still detest our President. I don't get it.

[MelRoy]

He was a doctor (practicing in London, if I recall correctly) before being thrust into politics when his father died. He is hamstrung by Syria's military. I'm not sure what real power he has, but by all indications Assad himself is moderate.

Israel has been talking to Syria behind the scenes for quite some time, a fact the US media ignores, for some reason.

[Alcove-One]

Yes, Mr. President. The Iranian protesters thank you as well. Thanks for nothing.
Go shake hands with our master and the deep thinkers on this threat will smile cult members.

[Alcove-One]

He's under the thumb of Iran and the terrorist groups that are based in Syria.

Thank Israel for taking out his nuke facility that the N. Koreans built for him. What universe are you guys living in?

[GunneraGirl]

this makes me so happy! seven more years of obama-styled diplomacy and i may actually be able to visit syria, iran, etc. - places and peoples that deeply interest me - in relative safety as an American!

[MarcusT]

Are you serious? Are you honestly scared to visit other countries due to foreign policy issues?

[brynnrose thorn]

Why wouldn't she be? Any sane person would.

[texanindubai]

I live in the ME and to be honest you really did not want to stand out as an American, however, with Obama as POTUS, it is now not a little easier. Even travelling around here, at one border patrol station, in a neighobouring country, they look twice at your passport.
The view here, by the way, is that most people see President Obama as a knight in shining armour, a beacon of liberty, and one with a level head that could actually broker peace in an area of the world that so depserately needs it. His approach to the diplomacy aspect is to be commended for the effort and for the potential hope that peace may be reached.
To be recognized in such a way by the Syrian leader is a step closer to future and not the a step backward into the past.

[Alcove-One]

Be sure to spend as much money as you can. Running an oppresive police state in Syria and Iran and Cuba is expensive. Do you know what surveilance cameras are running these days.
Ah, the joy of being a liberal who loves tyrants but not the people they torment.

[henrypapillon]

Damn , she's HOT !!!

[Emlyn]

She's good looking!

[iRock]

Looks pretty average to me. lol

[Alcove-One]

I hear Amadinnerjacket's wife in Iran is hot. Can't see her because she is covered but that's what I hear.

[davidwayneosedach]

So let her come to the US. There's no sense risking Obama's life in Syria. None whatsoever.

[Ergon]

Isarel might decide to bomb it again?

[Weirdwriter]

Only if Syria made the rash decision to attack it, as it did before.

[jesuswazasocialist]

Syria is an SECULAR country not an Islamist country why would Israel attack it?

[Khirad]

How is his life at risk?

[jcko]

too many people want to shake his hand.

[sanity2008]

We need to work for positive change in relations with Syria. There are possibilities for us to do so throughout the Middle East even though we, with our Neoconservative Straussian philosophy have alienated almost everyone.

[sanity2008]

This is an omen, a good one.

[Marlyn]

I'm feeling hopeful.

[Alcove-One]

You would. lol

[dbdzen]

Steve Jobs is of Syrian lineage. His biological father came to America as a Syrian grad student.

[WoudKano]

really? one would never know...

i think as a culture, we do ourself a disservice when we hide/overlook our diversity...which really is our strength.....

[Khirad]

Paula Abdul, too.

[Ergon]

I thought Lebanon?

[Alcove-One]

I am sure Steve Jobs would just as successful if he sayed in Syria.

[LCDTV]

she is the best looking first lady on the planet!!!!

[sanity2008]

She has a beautiful, friendly face, doesn't she?

[Ergon]

See her in the CNN link below. Intelligent too.
There was an article about the 5 best looking First Ladies. Carla Bruni was 1st, and I thought Asma Assad, who wasn't even included, should have been.

[iRock]

Americans are MORONS. Sarah Palin is pretty cute too you know?

Durrrrrr!

As if that's a qualification for being effective.

[Weirdwriter]

Let us guess -- you're Syrian? Understandable, and laudable.

[PresidentRobertBooth]

The Syrian first lady is vitally important because if anyone can push Syria into a more liberal system, it's her.

Along with HM Queen Noor of Jordan, these two ladies are essential to the development and future of at least two parts of the Arab world.

Obama should definitely accept the invitation, and visit Syria. Take Mrs Obama with him.

[Congressman Ed]

Agreed Mr. President.

[Congressman Ed]

You left out Queen Rania of Jordan.

[Alcove-One]

They married tyrants for the money and power. Color me unimpressed.

[Congressman Ed]

If she wanted to do that she would have married a Wall Street Banker when she lived in New York.

[jonlester]

Someone needs to. Bashar isn't the brightest star in the Arab world but he did marry well.

He may be feeling the need to get pragmatic, actually. He knows we've only shown restraint towards his Ba'athist regime because we have even less desire to see the Muslim Brotherhood fill the vacuum in the absence of his minority rule (10% Alawites compared to 60% Sunnis).

[Ergon]

I don't see how you measure that, but Dr. Assad is young, completed his medical degree (couldn't finish his opthamological training due to the death of his brother) is a pragmatist and relatively (compared to the rest of the Arab world) tolerant of political dissent. Isreal would benfit by making peace with Syria, but doesn't want to give up the Golan Heights or Shebaa Farms it illegally occupied in 1967. Pity.

[Haitiana4Obama]

Diplomacy at work here...finally!

[Alcove-One]

I guess you were calling for diplomacy for aparthied South Africa too, huh?

[Congressman Ed]

WHAT???

[jcko]

Aparthied South Africa has no longer been for over a decade.

Would you have wanted to invade South Afirica if it weren't.

[Etherealechidna]

This is really meaningless to me; were is the huffington post's story on Chip Reid and Helen Thomas grilling Gibbs on transparency?

[petera63]

They never posted it. One wonders what they were afraid of...

[Congressman Ed]

Please stay on topic.

[Ergon]

When Hu ffPo has a transparent comments policy, and neutral instead of sensationalist headlines, and cover important stories instead of avoiding them, or padding them with fluff, perhaps people will stay on topic

[freelyb]

The giggly-eyed reactions of Syria's first lady is not actually a news topic.

[MIKEBC]

I'm so proud to be American again! -it's nice to have most of the rest of the world liking us again!

[Congressman Ed]

Not true Mike. The Country of Texas still hates us.

[petera63]

...and the Commonwealth of HuffPo as well.

[brynnrose thorn]

Hey! Texan posting Right HERE. :)

[Alcove-One]

Yes, the good old days of appeasing dictators until they turn on us like Saddam Hussein.

[PatrietteAz]

NO one has been appeased. You must be one of those with a crystal ball that started blaming our President for everything months before he took office too. Must be nice to be able to know the future before it happens. Congrats.

[Ergon]

The dictator we supported when we wanted him to invade Iran then encouraged him to invade Kuwait so we could weaken an Arab state which threatened Israel? Oh that one.

[Rhia]

George Bush did a lot of appeasement during his time. He gave Musharaf millions just to secure allegiance.

[Alison Victoria]

As an American (and one of Syrian origins on my mother's side) living overseas, I feel just the same as you. Really proud.

[shakennotstirred]

I think she has a Crush on Obama.

But them who could blame her.

[KillBillV2]

Oooooh.

[Ergon]

Please. You make her sound like a groupie, She is a smart, intelligent woman, passionate about justice: See her CNN interview about Gaza http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2009/01/10/perry.turkey.syria.first.lady.intv.cnn
or about her background:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asma_al-Assad

[Alcove-One]

Ah, yes. The joy of being "passionate about justice" while being married to a gangster.

[HelloFunnyWorld]

To Ergon: Thanks for the link. Great interview, she made a number of points, good ones, and made Israel look bad....