Damascus, Sept 13, SPA -- Syria has hailed the weekend visitby a U.S. assistant secretary of state as opening a newpage in its relations with Washington. "Let it be a new beginning. Successful beginnings builton solid ground ... achieve results in record time," theofficial Al-Thawra newspaper said in a front-page editorialon the talks between Assistant Secretary William Burns andPresident Bashar Assad on Saturday in Damascus. In their talks, Burns is reported to have urged the Syrianpresident to pull his country's 20,000 troops out ofLebanon and do more to stop militants infiltrating acrossthe Syrian-Iraqi border to fight U.S.-led coalition forces. Syria's Foreign Ministry said the two sides agreed on"practical and tangible steps" to be taken in conjunctionwith Iraq to secure stability in that country. "This is the first time during (George W. Bush's)administration that we engage in such a deep and seriousdialogue," Syria's ambassador to the United States, ImadMustapha, said Monday of Burns' visit. The ambassador said that instead of giving orders, theUnited States is now engaging in dialogue with Syria."What happened is a basic transformation," Mustapha toldthe pan-Arab satellite television Al-Arabiya. Burns said in Egypt on Sunday that the United States hadoffered American military experts to contribute totightening controls along the Syrian-Iraqi border. The Syria Times said of the visit: "Simply agreeing onfollowing up on the dialogue between the two sides is anachievement."--SPA1440 Local Time 1140 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/201065