Improved relations with the West, an end to US sanctions and the return of the Golan Heights are among the prizes being held out to Syria by David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, as he seeks to bring the one-time pariah state in from the cold.

Mr Miliband will visit Syria next week as part of a larger Middle East trip focused on the frozen Israeli-Palestinian peace process, acknowledging that no solution can be found without the involvement of Damascus. In return, Britain hopes to persuade Syria that it should drop its support for Hamas and Hezbollah, stop its attempts to destabilise Lebanon and distance itself from Iran.

It is a lot to hope for in one visit, even if, as expected, Mr Miliband meets the President, Bashar Assad. But the Foreign Secretary’s hand has been strengthened substantially by the impending regime change in Washington, which has long been impervious to Syria’s periodic charm offensives. President-elect Obama has declared himself willing to speak directly to Syria and Iran, without preconditions, making it more likely that Mr Miliband can keep any promises he makes.

When he was host to the Syrian Foreign Minister, Walid al-Muallem, in London last month, the visit was overshadowed by an unprecedented American military raid on Syria. Two Black Hawk helicopters carrying eight special forces men flew over the border from Iraq and landed at a village, allegedly the base for a cell feeding jihad-ists into Iraq. Eight people were killed.

Mr al-Muallem accused the Americans of having made the strike in an attempt to scupper improving relations between Damascus and the West. Much curiosity focused on the timing of the raid at a moment when American generals were praising Damascus for its efforts in halting the cross-border traffic.

Analysts have since speculated that the strike was timed to send a warning to Syria in the knowledge that any diplomatic fallout would be reversed easily with a change of administration.

News of Mr Miliband’s trip coincided with leaks from unnamed diplomats at the International Atomic Energy Agency alleging that uranium traces had been found at a suspected nuclear site in Syria.

The site, which Washington insists was a partially completed reactor, was bombed by Israeli military jets earlier this year. Syria denies the allegations, claiming that the leaks are a politically motivated ruse to put pressure on Damascus by those who want to see its isolation continue.

Even before the leaks the head of the agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, said that he was taking seriously allegations of a secret Syrian atomic programme and would press Damascus to cooperate.

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