DAMASCUS, Feb 16 (AFP) - The US envoy to Syria, called home for consultations over the killing of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri, met in Damascus Wednesday with Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara, state news agency SANA reported.
Ambassador Margaret Scobey delivered a message from US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on "developments in Lebanon, Iraq and the (Middle East) peace process", SANA said.
The agency said Shara had "given Mrs Scobey a reply to the message that she, in turn, will transmit to the American secretary of state".
The foreign minister had said that the recall would give the ambassador "an opportunity to inform the American administration directly about Damascus' positions on developments in the region".
SANA quoted Scobey as "expressing the hope of returning as quickly as possible to her post in Damascus".
Scobey was recalled for "urgent consultations" after Hariri's murder in a massive bomb blast in Beirut on Monday.
The State Department said Tuesday that she had made two calls on the Syrian foreign ministry to express Washingon's "deep concern as well as our profound outrage over this heinous act of terrorism."
Although Washington stopped short of directly pointing the finger at Damascus, it linked Hariri's murder in Beirut to the presence of Syrian troops in Lebanon and used the case to highlight a host of other complaints.
"The Syrian government is unfortunately on a path right now where relations are not improving, but are worsening," Rice said after the assassination.
The top US envoy to the Middle East, who had traveled to Beirut for Hariri's funeral, called Wednesday for a "complete and immediate" withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon and demanded an investigation into the assassination.
"Mr Hariri's death should give renewed impetus to achieving a free, independent and sovereign Lebanon," Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs William Burns said.
"What that means is the immediate and complete implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1559, and what that means is the complete and immediate withdrawal by Syria," he said after talks with Foreign Minister Mahmud Hammud.
02/16/2005 15:13 GMT - AFP