US envoy meets Syria President

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Washington's special Middle East envoy says Syria has an integral role to play in the US effort to forge a comprehensive peace in the region.

George Mitchell met with Syrian President Bashar Assad in the capital Damascus, and said the US was "committed to actively and vigorously seeking comprehensive peace in the Middle East."

Mitchell added that all countries share "an obligation to create conditions for negotiations to begin promptly and end successfully."

Mitchell is the most senior US official to visit Damascus since 2005. He described his talks with Assad as "substantive."

US President Barack Obama has made it a priority to revive peace talks with Syria and has stepped up diplomacy.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (L) meets U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell in Damascus June 13, 2009. REUTERS/Sana