JERUSALEM — Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the US House of Representatives, will convey a message to Syria from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, that Israel is interested in peace if Damascus stops supporting terrorism, an Israeli official said yesterday.Pelosi met Olmert yesterday during the Israel part of her Mideast tour, which has drawn criticism from the White House because of her planned stop in Syria.

"Pelosi is conveying that Israel is willing to talk if they (Syria) would openly take steps to stop supporting terrorism," Olmert spokeswoman Miri Eisin said. "But at this point the Syrian government, by openly backing terror all around the Middle East, is not a partner for negotiations."

Israel and Syria are sworn enemies, though peace talks came close to success in 2000 before breaking down. Israel charges that Syria-based Palestinian militants are directing violence against Israeli from the West Bank and Gaza.

Pelosi said yesterday that she will raise the issue of two Israeli soldiers captured by the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah and a third captured by Palestinian militants last year with Syrian President Bashar Assad when she sees him.

US Presidential counsellor Dan Bartlett said yesterday that the White House had asked Pelosi not to go to Syria.

"We did not believe it would advance the diplomatic efforts in the Middle East. I think most Americans would not think that the leader of the Democratic Party in the Congress should be meeting with the heads of a state sponsor of terror," he said on CBS' "Face the Nation."

Pelosi's trip with six other lawmakers also includes stops in the Palestinian territories, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.

Last night, Pelosi spoke at a dinner for in the parliament building, and told Israeli lawmakers that America remains strongly behind their country.

"Americans have many political differences, but we stand united with Israel now and always," she said.

Her speech was uniformly supportive of Israel, and she received a standing ovation at the end. She said that Iran must not be allowed to get a nuclear weapon and called for the disarming of Hezbollah, which fought a war with Israel last summer. She also expressed fears that instability in Iraq will encourage Israel and America's enemies.

Her earlier meeting with Olmert lasted for an hour, twice as long as planned, and delayed Israel's Cabinet meeting, Eisin said. Olmert and the delegation talked "extensively" about a Saudi peace plan, dormant since 2002, re-launched last week at an Arab League summit.

Olmert welcomed the plan that calls for a recognition by all Arab states of Israel in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal from territories captured in 1967 as a "revolutionary change." But he has expressed reservations as well.

The California Democrat and the delegation, which includes the first Muslim member of Congress, Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, is scheduled to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday.

Pelosi told Olmert that there is strong bipartisan support in the United States for demands that the Hamas-led Palestinian government moderate its stance toward Israel before international sanctions against it are lifted, Eisin said.

She reiterated that point in her speech to the parliament, saying she is "concerned that the new Palestinian government, some of the people in the government, continue to remain committed to the destruction of Israel." However, a majority of Palestinians and Israelis support a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

Pelosi's opposition to the US war in Iraq was not raised in the Olmert meeting, Eisin said.

Olmert emphasised to the delegation the need for further sanctions against Iran to stop it from developing nuclear weapons, she said.

Ellison is scheduled today to meet with the mufti of Jerusalem, Mohammed Hussein, at the Al Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City. Ellison said Saturday that his presence — as a Muslim — on the trip sent a message to Israelis and Palestinians that "people can come together."

Also yesterday, Pelosi's delegation met with the families of three Israeli soldiers captured by Arab militants this summer, one in Gaza and two on the border with Lebanon.

Pelosi's visit to Israel is her second trip to the Middle East since she took over leadership of the House in January and is an indication she plans to play a role in foreign policy. She is known as a supporter of Israel.

Other representatives travelling with Pelosi and Ellison included Democrats Henry Waxman and Tom Lantos of California, Louise Slaughter of New York and Nick Rahall of West Virginia, and Ohio Republican David Hobson.