The United States will send an ambassador back to Syria after a four-year absence as Washington seeks to kickstart the Middle East peace process, a State Department official told AFP Wednesday.
"A decision has been made to send an ambassador back to Damascus. The process, however, will take some time," the official said, asking to remain anonymous.
The previous US administration had put relations with Syria on hold in 2005 following the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri.
But the new White House of President Barack Obama has moved to re-engage Damascus, a key regional player, as it seeks to breathe new life into the faltering peace talks.
"There is a lot of work to do in the region for which Syria can play a role. For that, it helps to have a fully staffed embassy," another US official told the New York Times Wednesday.
As part of his detente, Obama earlier this month dispatched US Middle East envoy George Mitchell to Syria to hold landmark talks with President Bashar al-Assad.
After the talks, Mitchell noted his host's "integral role" in Middle East peace.
In response Ath-Thawra, a Syrian government newspaper echoed Washington's overtures, stating: "Today, there is real optimism because the two parties realize the importance of improving bilateral relations in order to achieve global peace."
Ties between the US and Syria deteriorated after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
And Washington first imposed economic sanctions on Syria in 2004 over charges that it was a state sponsor of terrorism, and they have been extended several times since.
But the sharp downturn in relations came after Hariri's assassination in 2005, blamed on Syria, and prompting Washington to recall its ambassador to Damascus in February that year.
