Syria cool towards Powell

Syria says Powell talks were constructive

Syria has responded coolly to US demands for bringing peace to the region, saying the onus is on Israel.

In the first official statement on US Secretary of State Colin Powell's visit to Damascus, Syria said Arabs had given their all for peace and Washington must put pressure on Israel.

It made no mention of a key demand by Mr Powell - that Syria shuts down the Damascus-based offices of hardline Palestinian groups.

Mr Powell warned there would be "consequences" if Syria did not react constructively.

Despite America's declaration that Syria has shut the offices of some radical groups in Damascus, several militant organisations said it was business as usual at their bases in the Syrian capital.

This is just talk, it's a storm in a cup because we are merely media offices

Abu Jihad Talaat of Islamic Jihad

Syrian radio statement

The statement on Syrian state radio said the talks between President Bashar al-Assad and Mr Powell had been "constructive, frank and positive".

But it added that peace could only be achieved if Israel withdrew from all Arab lands it has occupied since the 1967 war and guaranteed the right of return for Palestinian refugees.

Syria said the United States was "capable of deterring the aggressor and putting international efforts on the right track in order to achieve a just and comprehensive peace".

Lebanon has also reportedly rebuffed a US demand that it replaces Hezbollah fighters on the Israeli border with government forces.

An-Nahar newspaper said President Emile Lahoud told Powell on his visit to Beirut that Hezbollah was recognised as a "legal political party" whose guerrilla war helped end Israel's 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon.

There was no confirmation of this from government sources.

Doubts

Several militant Palestinian groups said on Sunday they were operating normally, despite Mr Powell's pressure on Syria and Lebanon to shut down their offices.

"This is just talk, it's a storm in a cup because we are merely media offices," Abu Jihad Talaat of Islamic Jihad told Reuters news agency.

Mr Powell says the US wants "specific action" from Syria

Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official speaking from Lebanon, said: "The Americans know well that our presence is part of the Palestinian presence in Syria and Lebanon and that it's not voluntary.

"It is forced, because of the occupation of our land and the expulsion of Palestinians (in the 1948 war)."

And Marwan Abou Sami, of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said the groups had not been officially told to move their offices.

Israeli officials expressed doubts that Syria would crack down on militant groups.

One foreign ministry spokesman told AFP news agency: It's a good step by the United States to try to put an end to this. The future will tell but I have my doubts."

Speaking on American television on Sunday night, Colin Powell said the US would be measuring Syria's performance, not its assurances, to see if it was really prepared to move in a new direction.

The secretary of state added it was important that Syria played a positive role in the new Iraq by sealing its border and not harbouring fugitives from Saddam Hussein's regime.

And he warned there would be "consequences lurking in the background" if Syria did not comply, and advantages for Syria if it acted in what he called a new and more positive way.