Word: damascus
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...territories and - the U.S. alleged - Iraq. Hoping that isolation would change Syrian behavior, Washington encouraged Israel to ignore the Syrian charm offensive. But since the Obama Administration took office with the intention of repairing America's frayed relations in the region, the much discussed - but rarely traveled - road to Damascus has suddenly been busy with American emissaries, including Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, who visited Syria last month. The flurry of diplomatic excitement caused by Clinton's public handshake with Moallem, followed by Tuesday's announcement that Washington will soon send two high-level envoys to Damascus...
...Political bias has dogged the UN investigation since its inception. It is widely held that the UN investigation owes its existence to the interests of the U.S., which saw it as a useful tool to pressure Damascus into better behavior in Iraq, cease meddling in Lebanese affairs and to drop its backing for militant anti-Israel groups such as Lebanon?s Shi?ite Hizballah...
...Syria, however, has begun to emerge from its recent international isolation. On Friday, a senior State Department official met the Syrian ambassador to Washington, the first official contact in months. Washington also is considering appointing a new ambassador to Damascus. The previous ambassador was withdrawn in the wake of the Hariri assassination...
...There is no substitute for the United States.' BASHAR AL-ASSAD, Syria's President, on hopes that Barack Obama will send an ambassador to Damascus; George W. Bush withdrew the U.S. ambassador...
...Islamic militants who rule Gaza and are firing rockets into Israel, showed signs of softening their defiance to Egypt's attempt to broker a ceasefire. In Cairo, a Hamas spokesman appeared more conciliatory toward the Egyptian peace plan and said that the Islamist leadership, both in Gaza and in Damascus, would be studying the latest Egyptian proposal, whose contents have yet to be disclosed. One Hamas source told TIME, "We've moved a step forward, and now we're going to test the Egyptian's influence on Israel...