George Mitchell, the U.S. Middle East envoy, arrived in Syria overnight and held his second round of talks in as many months with President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday, according to AFP. Mitchell’s trip will also take him to Israel and the Palestinian Authority later in the day.
Speaking on Thursday, State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said the talks with Assad are aimed at “trying to see what Syria’s prepared to do... to move towards a comprehensive process,” He added: “We’re also trying to develop... bilateral issues that we have with the Syrians as well. I would imagine both of those will come up.”