DAMASCUS, SANA- The meeting between President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday morning and an American Congress delegation headed by Senator Benjamin Cardin, Member of the Foreign Relations Committee at the Senate concentrated on the bilateral relations between Syria and the United States and the importance of developing them through serious and positive dialogue based on mutual respect and joint interest in order to find just solutions for the problems of the region. Talks during the meeting dealt with the latest development in the region and with what can be done to enhance efforts for realizing peace in the Middle East, as well as combating terrorism, where President al-Assad reiterated that achieving peace is the key for achieving stability in the region. For his part, the American delegation stressed the importance of continuing dialogue between Damascus and Washington, particularly under the new American administration which has a new policy and wants to work with the world. The meeting was attended by Foreign Minister Walid al-Mouallem and Presidential Political and Media Advisor Bouthina Shabaan and Syria's Ambassador to the USA Imad Mustafa. This is the second US Congress delegation to visit Damascus after President Barack Obama assumed office, with President al-Assad meeting a Congress delegation headed by Congressman Adam Smith on January 31st and discussing with them bilateral relations between Syria and the United States and means for developing them.The two sides had underlined the importance of establishing positive and constructive dialogue between the two countries based on common interests and mutual respect.The delegation had stressed Syria's important regional role and expressed the new US administration's eagerness for developing Syrian-US relations in service of stability in the Middle East."The meeting with President al-Assad constituted an opportunity to talk about the peace process, the Iraqi refugees issue in Syria and discuss combating terrorism, President al-Assad was very decisive regarding this issue," Senator Cardin said in a statement to reporters before leaving Damascus. "We conducted a candid dialogue with the Syrian officials and we will convey what we heard to the US Congress, this information is very important regarding the future vision of the US Administration and President Barack Obama who showed big interest towards this region," Cardin added. On the future of bilateral relations between Syria and the US, Mr. Cardin said there is a desire to find good relations, adding that realizing peace in the region will be a very important fulfillment for its stability. Answering a question on whether the US is ready to play a role in the peace process under the new administration or not, Cardin said "we believe that it is important for the Syrian and Israeli sides to take important steps to move forwards in the peace talks." H.Zain/ Ghossoun