Pelosi: GOP team visited Syria, why not me?

BEIRUT, LEBANON -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday shrugged off White House criticism of her forthcoming trip to Damascus, saying she had "great hope" for reviving U.S. relations with Syria and changing its behavior.

Speaking hours after arriving in Lebanon, Pelosi indicated the Bush administration was singling out her trip to Syria but ignoring the recent visits by Republican members of Congress.

"It's interesting because three of our colleagues, who are all Republicans, were in Syria yesterday, and I didn't hear the White House speaking out about that," Pelosi said, referring to the Sunday meeting of Reps. Frank Wolf, Joe Pitts and Robert Aderholt with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus.

"I think that it was an excellent idea for them to go," said Pelosi, who is to meet Syrian leaders Wednesday. "And I think it's an excellent idea for us to go, as well."

In Washington, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino stressed Monday that the Bush administration objects to all visits to Syria.

"We ask that people not go on these trips," she said. "We discourage it."

The U.S. has poor relations with Syria, accusing it of interfering in Iraq and Lebanon and sponsoring terrorists -- charges that Syria denies. Perino last week described Pelosi's visit to Syria as a "really bad idea."

Last year, a bipartisan commission known as the Iraq Study Group recommended that the U.S. begin a new diplomatic initiative with Syria and Iran. The Bush administration rejected the idea, but the U.S. did participate in a regional security conference in Baghdad last month that also included representatives from Iran and Syria.

Perino said it "sends the wrong message to have high-level U.S. officials going there [to Syria] to have photo opportunities that Assad then exploits."

But Pelosi said she thinks it's a good idea to "establish facts, to hopefully build the confidence" between the U.S. and Syria.

"We have no illusions, but we have great hope," she said.

In Damascus, a state-run newspaper welcomed Pelosi's visit, saying that through dialogue "a lot of misunderstandings [with the United States] could be removed."

Pelosi, who is leading a delegation on a fact-finding tour of the Middle East, said she would speak to the Syrians about Iraq, their role in the fight against terrorism, their support for militant groups such as Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas -- whose exiled leaders live in Damascus -- as well as Syrian influence in Lebanon.