Ryan Crocker, new US ambassador in Damascus

Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa on Tuesday received the new US ambassador to Damascus, Ryan Crocker, who presented al-Sharaa with a copy of his credentials as an ambassador for the US to Syria.

A Syrian source said that al-Sharaa and Crocker spoke about the "US exerted efforts to salvage the Middle East peace process from its current impasse and Syrian-US bilateral relations."

Diplomatic sources said that Crocker arrived in Damascus on last Wednesday to replace Christopher Ross who was appointed as the US undersecretary of state for terrorism affairs.

Crocker, 49, served as the US ambassador to Lebanon in 1990, Kuwait in 1994, and earlier served as an ambassador for his country in Iran, Qatar, Iraq and Egypt.