"After a successful visit of U.N. envoy Terje Road Larsen to both Syrian and Lebanese republics, both Syrian people and government would like to express their utmost surprise to the political and media escalation that preceded (the) U.N. envoy's mission to implement U.N. resolution 1559," said Mouallem in a statement faxed to CNN.

"From this context, Syria would like to express that it is very keen to cooperate with (the) U.N. secretary general's envoy in order to achieve his mission in the best ways possible, and reiterates its commitment to implementing the Taif accord and other bilateral agreements between Syria and Lebanon.