U.S. asks Syria to support Palestinian-Israeli direct talks: source

The U.S. administration demanded Syria not to hinder the Palestinian National Authority's (PNA) tendency towards direct negotiations with Israel, local news website Syria Now reported on Monday.

A well-informed source confirmed that Washington asks Damascus, through U.S. Senator Arlen Specter, not to hinder the PNA tendency towards direct negotiation at a time when the Palestinian side showed hesitation over the results of the indirect talks and Arab League chief Amr Moussa declared that those talks have failed.

The U.S. administration concentrates at the moment on the Palestinian-Israeli peace track, demanding Syria and other Arab countries to not hinder the process, according to the source.

The U.S. republican senator met with Syrian President Bashar al- Assad on Thursday and the talks focused on U.S.-Syrian relations and situations in Iraq and the Palestinian territories, said the source.

U.S. President Barack Obama renewed last month the Bush-era sanctions against Syria for another year, saying Syria posed an " unusual and extraordinary threat" to the United States, accusing Damascus of supporting terrorist groups and pursuing missile programs and weapons of mass destruction, allegations always denied by Damascus.

Source: Xinhua