US Middle East envoy George Mitchell and aides have applied for visas for a landmark visit to Syria, Al-Hurra television reported Friday, as the Obama administration steps up engagement with Damascus.
"Senator Mitchell and his team sent their passports to us today for obtaining visas to visit Syria," Syrian Ambassador Imad Mustapha told the US-funded Al-Hurra TV.
"Mr. Mitchell did not visit Syria yet and we did not discuss with him yet the role that he thinks he wants to play for achieving peace," the ambassador said in Arabic.
President Barack Obama's administration has been cautiously pursuing diplomatic engagement with Syria, which has long had strained ties with Washington, in a bid to promote Arab-Israeli peace.
Mitchell's expected trip raises US engagement a notch.
Jeffrey Feltman, the acting assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, and National Security Council Senior Director Daniel Shapiro visited Damascus earlier this month.
It was their second visit to Damascus since Obama took office in January pledging to engage with all Middle Eastern countries, including Washington's foes such as Syria and Iran.
Ties between Washington and Damascus worsened sharply after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, and the assassination of Lebanese leader Rafiq Hariri in 2005 which was blamed on Syria.
Washington recalled its ambassador in February 2005 following Hariri's murder and no decision has yet been taken on his replacement.
Damascus has denied any involvement in Hariri's killing, but withdrew its troops from Lebanon two months later, ending almost three decades of domination.
The United States accuses Syria and its non-Arab ally Iran of giving material support to the radical Palestinian movement Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah in their conflicts with Israel.
It also charges that Syria has turned a blind eye to Islamist militants entering Iraq through its border.
