US anti-terror official has 'productive & detailed talks' in Syria

AFP/ here

Daniel Benjamin, the US State Department's coordinator for counterterrorism, met with a group of Syrian officials on Thursday for "productive and detailed" talks, the US embassy said.

The two sides discussed "shared counterterrorism concerns and threats," it said, adding that "we believe Syria can play a constructive role in mitigating these and other threats in cooperation with regional states and the United States."...... according to Seymour Hersh of New Yorker magazine, cooperation has been restored between the CIA and Syria's intelligence services. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in 2008 that he would not renew security cooperation with the United States until diplomatic relations were restored.