Embassy Row

New envoy to Syria

Syria is welcoming a new U.S. ambassador despite tensions between Damascus and Washington, which accuses Syria of sponsoring terrorism.

Ambassador Margaret Scobey presented her diplomatic credentials to Syrian President Bashar Assad last week and accompanied visiting Sen. Bill Nelson to a meeting with Mr. Assad. The Florida Democrat is a member of the Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees.

Mr. Assad wished Miss Scobey “success in her mission” and called on the United States to help restart peace negotiations with Israel. Talks collapsed four years ago.

“Syria wants the United States to work seriously for the resumption of the peace process with Israel at the point where it broke down,” the official Ath-Thawra newspaper said.

Mr. Assad also wants to reduce tensions with Washington, the newspaper said. Congress has authorized President Bush to impose sanctions on Syria to force it to abandon supporting terrorist groups and stop the infiltration of terrorism suspects into neighboring Iraq.

’Assertive’ Russia

The U.S. ambassador to Russia is urging President Vladimir Putin to demonstrate his commitment to democracy if he wants to take full advantage of relations with the United States.

Ambassador Alexander Vershbow, on a Washington visit last week, also said Mr. Putin is displaying an “assertive stance” toward many of the states that emerged after the fall of the Soviet Union.

“If U.S.-Russian cooperation is to develop to its fullest, Russia must demonstrate a deepening commitment to democratic values and human rights,” he said in a speech at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Diplomatic traffic

Foreign visitors in Washington this week include the following:

Today

• Princess Alexandra of Denmark, who has tea with first lady Laura Bush on Wednesday. The princess also visits the State Department, Congress and the World Bank.

• A delegation from the Swedish Parliament’s foreign affairs committee, led by Chairman Urban Ahlin and Deputy Chairman Gunilla Carlsson, and from the justice committee, led by Chairman Johan Pehrson and Deputy Chairman Alice Astrom. They meet members of Congress to discuss terrorism and judicial issues.

• Arye Naor of Israel’s Ben Gurion University, Rolf Steininger of Germany’s Institute for Zeitgeschichte, Galis Golan of Israel’s Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Laura James of Britain’s Oxford University, Mostafa Elwi Saif of Egypt’s Cairo University and Hisham Khatib, a former Jordanian government minister. They participate in a State Department forum on the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

Tomorrow

• Ivan Korcok, deputy foreign minister of the Slovak Republic, who meets administration officials. He addresses the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Thursday.

• A Chinese delegation led by Fu Ying, director of the Foreign Ministry’s Asia department, and Ning Fukui, special ambassador on Korean nuclear issues. They will meet State Department officials to discuss talks on North Korea.

• Chen Zhaohui of Shanghai’s Jiaotong University, who participates in a forum on U.S.-China economic issues at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Wednesday

• Spanish President Jose Maria Aznar, who speaks at Georgetown University on his country’s role in international affairs.

Thursday

cGeorge Floridis, Greece’s minister of public order, who meets administration officials to discuss U.S.-Greek law enforcement efforts to combat terrorism, organized crime, human trafficking and drug smuggling. He also will review Greece’s security plans for the Olympic Games in Athens in August.

Friday

• Patricio Aylwin, former president of Chile, who participates in a panel on ethics, sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank.

• Call Embassy Row at 202/636-3297, fax 202/832-7278 or e-mail jmorrison@washingtontimes.com.