House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Syria on Tuesday for a visit that is seen as part of an attempt to sway Bush administration policy on Iraq and the rest of the Middle East.The San Francisco Democrat is the most senior American politician to visit Syria since relations between the countries faltered in 2003. She was greeted Tuesday afternoon at the airport in Damascus, the capital, by Walid Moallem, Syria's foreign minister, and was taken on a tour of the old part of the city. She was to meet with President Bashar Assad and other senior officials today.
At the White House, President Bush criticized Pelosi's visit, saying it sends mixed signals to the Middle East and to Assad's government. "Sending delegations hasn't worked," Bush told reporters. "It's just simply been counterproductive."
The United States, which has accused the Syrian government of providing militants with safe passage into Iraq and of meddling in Lebanon's politics after its army was forced to leave there in 2005, has sought to isolate Syria economically and politically. Damascus denies the charges.
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