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<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/34142?ns=guardian&pageName=World+news%3A+Miliband%3A+Syria+can+help+kickstart+Middle+East+peace+process&ch=World+news&c3=guardian.co.uk&c4=Syria+%28News%29%2CForeign+policy%2CDavid+Miliband%2CIsrael+and+the+Palestinian+territories+%28News%29%2CWorld+news%2CUK+news%2CPolitics&c5=Policy+Society%2CNot+commercially+useful&c6=James+Sturcke%2CIan+Black&c7=2008_11_18&c8=1119782&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=World+news&c12=Syria&c13=&c14=&h2=GU%2FWorld+news%2FSyria" width="1" height="1" /></div>Syria should play a "constructive role" in the search for Middle East peace, David Miliband urged on his groundbreaking visit to Damascus today.But the foreign secretary said that rocket attacks by Hamas, supported by Syria, were harming that process.Speaking after talks with the country's president, Bashar al-Assad, Miliband mixed flattery with a warning that a commitment to peace was not compatible with backing for the Palestinian Islamists who now control the Gaza Strip."Syria is a very important country with important responsibilities," the foreign secretary told reporters at a joint press conference with his Syrian counterpart, Walid al-Muallem. "Syria has the opportunity to play a constructive role for peace in the region." But he added pointedly: "I argue that Hamas's violence hurts Syria, which says it believes in a comprehensive peace."Muallem sidestepped a question about Syrian support for Hamas and the Lebanese Shia movement Hizbullah, both of which are treated by Britain and the US as terrorist organisations.Miliband's visit to Damascus is the first by a British cabinet minister since Tony Blair was publicly lectured by Assad shortly after the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001.According to Syria's official news agency, Sana, Assad told Miliband today that peace needed "seriousness" from Israel and an "honest sponsor and an effective European role". The president said that a comprehensive peace based on UN resolutions was the "only way to bring about security and stability in the region".Miliband's 24-hour stay represents a significant thaw in relations between the two countries. By engaging with Syria the UK hopes to encourage signs that Barack Obama, the US president-elect, will reverse the George Bush-era policy of boycotting and sanctioning the Assad regime, Iran's only Arab ally.Miliband said he believed the election of a new administration in the United States "does represent a new opportunity for engagement by the US in the Middle East region".Syria is delighted with the visit – a speedily arranged return fixture after Muallem came to London three weeks ago. Damascus feels things have been going its way since the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, broke the ice in the summer by inviting Assad to an EU summit in Paris.Britain points to tightening Syrian control of its border with Iraq, its improving relations with Lebanon and its desire to continue negotiating with Israel.Last month <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/15/syria-lebanon">Syria formalised its diplomatic ties with Lebanon</a> after dominating it for nearly three decades until 2005. It also held indirect peace talks with Israel through Turkish mediation.The foreign secretary told the BBC: "Syria certainly has had some big questions to answer about the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq, about the situation in Lebanon, about its contribution to the stability of the region."The Israeli president, Shimon Peres, visiting London, expressed concern that Syria was "divided" – wanting both peace with Israel and continued relations with Hizbullah and Iran. "I am afraid that Syria thinks it can make two moves – forwards and backwards – and that is a problem," Peres said. "If Syria will understand that they can't have the Golan Heights and keep Lebanon as a base for the Iranians, then the decision will be clear. But if she wants the Golan Heights back and keeps her bases in Lebanon - which are really controlled and financed by the Iranians - no Israeli will agree to have Iranians on our borders."Syria's Golan Heights have been occupied by Israel since 1967.Moallem also disputed that the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/12/syria-israel-palestinians-nuclear-issues">UN nuclear agency's discovery of uranium</a> traces at a bombed site was an indication that Syria was building a nuclear reactor.He reiterated that the site was "under construction and it's not operational ... It's a military establishment and not for nuclear purposes."<div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/syria">Syria</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/foreignpolicy">Foreign policy</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/davidmiliband">David Miliband</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/israelandthepalestinians">Israel and the Palestinian territories</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=News&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1227040924576111820514963823"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=News&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1227040924576111820514963823" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a>

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