US special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell arrived in Damascus today for what a US official described as part of a push for "a comprehensive peace" in the Middle East, according to dpa. In the latest step in a diplomatic dance between Damascus and Washington, Mitchell is scheduled to meet with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday. The US official assigned to lead negotiations with Syria, Acting Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman, arrived in Syria on Friday, ahead of US President Barack Obama's special envoy to the region. US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said the trip to Syria was meant to push forward Obama's goal of achieving comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace and comes a week after the president addressed US-Arab relations in a speech in Cairo. "This administration is committed to a broad-based comprehensive peace dealing with all the different players in the region," Kelly said. "And we decided this was an appropriate time for senator Mitchell to go to Syria." The Syrian and the US governments both say they welcome increased dialogue between the two countries, but both say improved relations will depend on concrete policy changes.
