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US officials are in Jordan, and have met the country's foreign minister, before heading to Syria for talks later this week.
Jeffery Feltman, the US assistant secretary of state, held talks with Nasser Judeh in Amman, the Jordanian capital, on Thursday.
Local media reported Feltman as saying that "the new US administration is committed to achieving peace and stability in the Middle East, particularly between Israelis and Palestinians."
The meeting comes two days after Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, announced in Israel that she was sending Feltman and Dan Shapiro, the White House envoy to the Middle East, to Damascus to push forward a regional peace initiative.
It is the highest-level US delegation to be sent to Damascus in four years, and may arrive in the country on Saturday.
Receptive to change
Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, is believed to be receptive to easing relations with Washington in the hope that improved ties can help to boost their struggling economy.
After eight years in power, al-Assad has tightened his grip on the nation and opened up a previously isolated economy.
However, the country's oil exports have depreciated in value and output and its vaunted food self-sufficiency has been undermined by a prolonged drought.
US economic sanctions are an extra depressant, for instance, grounding the national airline fleet due to lack of spare parts.
Between 30 to 40 per cent of Syria's population are believed to be living in poverty.
PHOTO CAPTION
Lebanese parliament majority leader Saad Hariri (R) meets with US envoy Jeffrey Feltman in Beirut.
Al-Jazeera
