US warns off Syria

US warns off Syria

Harsh words traded between US and Syria

Military supplies are being smuggled across the border from Syria into Iraq, according to US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

"These deliveries pose a direct threat to the lives of coalition forces," he said.

Warning that the US would hold Syria accountable for "hostile acts", he also cautioned Iran from getting involved in the conflict.

Syria dismissed Mr Rumsfeld's allegations as "unfounded and irresponsible".

The US defence secretary refused to say if he believed the trafficking of supplies was state-sponsored but insisted the Syrian authorities had control of their borders.

He said the shipments included night-vision goggles and "vastly complicated" the military operation in Iraq.

A statement from the Syrian foreign ministry said the US was trying to divert attention from action its forces had been taking against civilians in Iraq.

Assad opposes the war

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had earlier attacked American and British action in Iraq, saying the coalition would be confronted with "popular resistance" which would prevent them from controlling the country.

In an interview with a Lebanese newspaper, As-Safir, he said he hoped the US would fail to oust Saddam Hussein.

Earlier in March, Syria called on Arab countries not to offer any help to US troops and, until last week, volunteers were travelling overland from Syria to Iraq to fight with Iraqi troops.

On Wednesday, the highest Syrian religious authority called on Muslims to engage in a jihad, or "holy war", against foreign troops in Iraq

The BBC's Kim Ghattas in Damascus says that is a call which no-one in Syria would issue without the tacit approval of the Syrian leadership.

Syria voted for the Security Council resolution which paved the way for the resumption of weapons inspectors in Iraq but said it did so on assurances that this would avoid a war.

'Militants from Iran'

As conflict approached, it joined other Security Council members in preventing a second resolution authorising an attack on Iraq.

Mr Rumsfeld's allegations about Syria were coupled with remarks about the alleged infiltration of militants into Iraq from Iran.

He said there were hundreds of guerrillas opposed to Saddam Hussein - known as the Badr Brigades - who were slipping over the border.

He said they were complicating US war plans and would be considered combatants if they interfered with its forces.

At the same time, the US State Department said two alleged Iraqi terrorist cells had been broken up.

Agents 'used diplomatic cover'

According to officials the terror suspects had been plotting attacks against American and Western interests in two countries.

Both states are believed to be in the Middle East but the State Department refuses to be more specific.

The plots are said to have involved Iraqi intelligence officers working under diplomatic cover.

State Department sources said the plotters were planning to use conventional weapons, not chemical or biological.

The BBC's Jon Leyne at the State Department says this will be another demonstration of what the US says are Iraq's terrorist links.

But without further evidence emerging in public, it is difficult to make a judgement on the significance of these finds.