Visiting U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Syrian leaders on Wednesday for talks which was criticized by the White House as undermining the U.S. efforts to isolate the Arab country.

Pelosi, the highest-level U.S. politician to visit Syria in years, met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Wednesday at his presidential palace on a hilltop overlooking Damascus.

Earlier in the day, she also held separate talks with Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Shara and Foreign Minister Walid al- Muallem in which the two sides discussed the latest developments in the region, particularly in Iraq, the occupied Palestinian territories, Lebanon.

According to an official statement, the stalled Middle East peace process, bilateral relations and the fight on terrorism also featured high in the meetings.

The U.S. Democrat, a staunch critic of U.S. President George W. Bush's Iraq policy, headed a congressional delegation that grouped U.S. lawmakers from both Democratic and Republican parties.

Pelosi's trip has met strong criticism from the White House which rebuked it as a "really bad idea."

On Tuesday, Bush criticized Pelosi's trip to Damascus as sending"mixed signals" that undermine U.S.-led efforts to isolate Syria.

Defending her trip to Damascus, Pelosi argued on Monday in Beirut that the journey was "an excellent idea" and she would discuss with al-Assad "the overarching issue of the fighting against terrorism and the role that Syria can play to help or to hinder."

Relations between Washington and Damascus have been strained since 2003 as Syria strongly objected the U.S. invasion of Iraq and blamed the U.S.-led occupation for the turbulences in the country ever after.

The White House, on the contrary, has been accusing Syria of supporting terror organizations and doing little to stop weapons and militants from infiltrating into Iraq and destabilizing situation there.

Damascus supports the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas) and the Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah movement which Washington labels as terror organizations. Syria, however, insists that they are legitimate resistant movements.

The U.S.-Syrian ties further deteriorated following the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005, after which Washington withdrew its ambassador to Damascus for Syria's alleged role in the killing.

Syria denied any involvement in the murder although a UN probe has implicated senior Syrian officials in the case.

Washington, which had since refused high-level contacts with Damascus, has been under pressure to engage directly with Syria to help quiet down upgrading turmoil in Iraq.

The U.S. bipartisan Iraq Study Group has urged the Bush administration to engage in talks with Syria and Iran over Iraq. However, the White House has largely ignored the suggestion.

Source: Xinhua