Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, rejected President George Bush's accusations as she met for talks with Bashar Assad yesterday. She said she had pressed the President over his alleged support for militant groups and accepted a message of peace from Israel's leader.

"We came in friendship, hope, and determined that the road to Damascus is a road to peace," Mrs Pelosi said later. She said her delegation "expressed concern about Syria's connections to Hizbollah and Hamas".

Before leaving for Saudi Arabia where she met King Abdullah, she added: "These are important issues not only in the fight against terrorism but important priorities for us for peace in the Middle East."

Earlier this week, Mr Bush had criticised Mrs Pelosi's trip, saying such delegations had little impact. "Sending delegations doesn't work. It's simply been counterproductive," he said.

But members of Mrs Pelosi's delegation disagreed. Congressman Tom Lantos, head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the meeting strongly reinforced the potential benefits of talking to Syria. "This is only the beginning of our constructive dialogue with Syria and we hope to build on this visit," he said.

The Bush administration says Syria hosts the exiled leadership of Hamas and other Palestinian organisations and is a major supporter of Hizbollah, which it sees as a terrorist group. Syria insists Hamas and Hizbollah are legitimate, democratically elected political parties. The US also claims an estimated 90 per cent of suicide bombers active in Iraq enter from Syria.

Despite the Bush administration's stance, there have been calls for engagement with Syria from other fronts. Last year, the Iraq Support Group, a commission of senior US figures who drew up a series of proposals for making progress in Iraq, said the US should hold talks with Syria and Iran to discuss the situation not just inside that country but other Middle East issues.

While the Bush administration rejected the recommendation, it did participate in a meeting in Baghdad of regional diplomats, including those from Iran and Syria, in February.

After the meeting between the US delegation and Mr Assad, Syria's Foreign Minister, Walid al-Moallem, said: "These people in the United States who are opposing dialogue I tell them one thing: Dialogue is... the only method to close the gap existing between two countries. Everyone knows there are different points of view between Syria and the US. We are happy Mrs Pelosi and her delegation had the courage and determination to bridge these differences."

Two years ago relations between the US and Syria hit a new low when the Bush administration withdrew its ambassador to protest against the assassination of a former Lebanese prime minister, Rafik Hariri. While Syria - which had troops in Lebanon at the time - insists it was not involved in organising the bomb attack that killed Mr Hariri, the belief that it was is widespread.

An investigation is still proceeding, although an earlier UN report did not implicate Syria. Despite that, since the murder, the US has been largely successful in its efforts to isolate Syria. The last high-ranking official to visit was Richard Armitage, the deputy secretary of state at the time, in January 2005.

Mrs Pelosi claimed that she had delivered a message of peace to Mr Assad from Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, suggesting he was ready to hold peace talks. But her comments caused Israel again to stress its preconditions for entering into such negotiations. An Israeli official said: "The Prime Minister said Israel is interested in peace with Syria, but Syria would first have to abandon the path of terror and providing support for terrorist groups."