DAMASCUS/JERUSALEM (Reuters/AFP) - The US launched a fresh drive on Sunday to restart Middle East peace talks, sending senior officials to the region to deal with issues ranging from Jewish settlements to Irans nuclear ambitions. The visits by Middle East envoy George Mitchell, Defence Secretary Robert Gates and National Security Adviser Jim Jones were a strong signal from US President Barack Obama of his intention to keep Israeli-Arab peacemaking high on his agenda. In Damascus, Mitchell said restarting talks between Israel and Syria was a near-term goal for Washington. He also called for Syrian President Bashar al-Assads support for a broad peace effort in the region. He had a candid and positive discussion with Assad amid a diplomatic push by Washington to jumpstart stalled peace talks. I discussed with President Assad the prospects for moving forward on our goals of comprehensive peace in the region and improved bilateral ties between Syria and the United States, he said. On Monday (today) Mitchell is due to meet Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas in Ramallah and on Tuesday (tomorrow) he is to hold talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with discussions to focus on US demands that Israel halt settlement activity in the occupied West Bank. Mitchells latest trip to the region comes as part of a diplomatic push that will also see Defence Secretary Robert Gates arrive for a one-day visit in Israel on Monday (today) and National Security Advisor James Jones make a three-day trip beginning on Tuesday (tomorrow). Assad reiterated the Syrian demand in his talks with Mitchell, insisting on the right of Arabs to recover their occupied land through a just and comprehensive peace based on international resolutions and the principle of land for peace, the official Syrian Arab News Agency said. Flying into Israel from talks in Damascus with President Assad on the possibility of restarting Israeli-Syrian negotiations, Mitchell discussed a settlement deal and prospects for regional peace with Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak in Tel Aviv. Washington is committed to a comprehensive peace in the Middle East and that includes Israel and Palestine, Israel and Syria, Israel and Lebanon and normal relations with all countries in the regions, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Baraks office quoted Mitchell as saying. He told reporters he has been urging Arab leaders to take steps towards normalisation as gestures of their own to demonstrate that everyone in the region shares the vision of comprehensive peace that we share. Playing down the most serious rift in US-Israeli ties in a decade, Israeli PM Netanyahu told his cabinet: It is only natural, that within a fabric of friendly relations between allies, there is not full agreement on all points. He described Israels relationship with Washington as important and steadfast, a departure from tough comments he made only a week ago when he said he would not accept orders from the United States on Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem.