Syria-Saudi ties not Washington's business: Syria

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - The Syrian government advised the United States on Thursday against interfering with a visit by Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah to Damascus and said the two countries "know better" how to stabilize the Middle East.

Abdullah arrived for talks with President Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian capital before they travel together to Beirut on Friday to try to calm tension over a tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of Lebanese statesman Rafik al-Hariri.

The official Syrian news agency said the Syrian president personally met the Saudi monarch at Damascus airport, a departure from protocol reflecting the importance of the visit.

U.S. State department official Philip Crowley said on Wednesday Washington hoped Syria would play a constructive role in the region and would respond to the Saudi monarch's concerns about Iranian "threats" to Middle East stability.

"Obviously, King Abdullah has played a significant leadership role in the region. So his prospective travel to Syria and to Lebanon is consistent with his search for peace," Crowley said.

A Syrian foreign ministry statement said the United States "has no right to define our ties with the countries of the region and interfere in the content of the talks the Saudi monarch will have in Damascus."

"Syria and Saudi Arabia ... know better than others the interests of the people of the region and how to achieve them without outside interference and they are able to define their policies to achieve peace and stability in the region," the statement said.

Relations between Damascus and Washington improved after President Barack Obama took power last year but major differences persist, including Syria's strong ties with Iran and the two countries' backing for the Lebanese group Hezbollah.

"The Syrian statement seems to express a preference in Damascus not to focus on the Iran issue again during King's Abdullah's visit," a Syrian source said.