Brussels, 03/08/2006 (Agence Europe) - After a meeting with President Assad in Damascus on Thursday, the Spanish Foreign Minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, said, as reported by Reuters, that Syria will “play a positive role” to seek to reach a “comprehensive and lasting peace” in the Middle East. Among other things, Syria is reported to have said it is willing to “facilitate communications” with Hezbollah. In Beirut, on Wednesday, the former EU Special Representative for the Middle East had met not only the Lebanese government but also his Jordanian and Egyptian counterparts. El Pais points out that the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had last week called on Moratinos, during a telephone conversation, to bring his influence to bear in Damascus and Tehran in order to seek a way to settle the Lebanese crisis.