DAMASCUS, June 9 (RIA Novosti) - U.S. special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell will visit Syria and Lebanon this week as part of a trip to the region, according to Lebanese media reports.
Mitchell, who is holding talks with both Palestinian and Israeli officials, will travel to Damascus on Thursday and plans to visit Beirut on Sunday.
This is Mitchell's first visit to the Middle East since his appointment by U.S. President Barack Obama in January. Obama called for a new start in relations between the United States and the Muslim world during a speech in Egypt last week.
Syria is listed by the United States as a state sponsor of terrorism and Washington has accused Damascus of allowing foreign insurgents to enter Iraq through its territory.
In addition, the U.S. has urged Syria to seek a peace settlement with Israel and stop its support for the Palestinian movement Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah, both considered terrorist groups by the West.
The Obama administration has made a peace settlement in the Middle East a priority and has been reluctant to politically isolate Syria. Several U.S. Congress delegations and State Department officials have visited Damascus over the last three months.
Syria dominated its smaller neighbor for decades before finally pulling its troops out in April 2005, two months after the assassination of the former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri in a Beirut bombing. Damascus has denied any involvement in the assassination.
