The Obama administration on Thursday called on Syria to play a positive role in the Middle East and to support the two-state solution, saying it has willingness to engage with Damascus.

"What's important from our standpoint is that Syria plays a positive role in this region. And up until now, it hasn't. But this administration has said it's willing to engage," State Department spokesman Robert Wood said at the daily press briefing.

"Our policy is based on a two-state solution, a two-state formula. And what Syria and other countries around the world can do is to try to use their influence on the parties to help move them in that direction," Wood said.

"If Syria is willing to play a positive role in helping to promote the two-state solution, then that's welcome," said the spokesman.

"What we need to see are actions, and we hope that Syria will, indeed, engage and play a positive role in the region. It's an important country in the Middle East," he added.

Wood's remarks came after reports here said the Obama administration plans to conduct a new round of talks with Syria on securing the Iraqi border and supporting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

The administration will dispatch two high-level envoys to Damascus in coming weeks for the talks, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, adding that the diplomats' visit is "the latest sign of reconciliation between Washington and Syrian President Bashar Assad's government."

According to the report, acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman and National Security Council official Dan Shapiro will be making their second trip to Damascus in less than two months.

The two officials made their first visit in earlier March, in an attempt to broker a rapprochement with Syria after four years of tension between the two countries.

Questioning Syria's involvement, the Bush administration withdrew its ambassador from Damascus in February 2005 following the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.

President Barack Obama has said that the United States was willing to open a dialogue if Syria and Iran would "unclench their fists."