Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is open to dialogue with the United States, the leader said in an interview with US television network CBS. Assad said such dialogue would need to be based on "mutual respect," but that so far there has been ** contact from the Americans. "But as principal, in Syria we could say that every dialogue is a positive thing," he told television journalist Charlie Rose, in excerpts of an interview to air Sunday on CBS's "60 Minutes" program. When asked about relations between Syria and the United States, Assad said there was ** direct communication.