US Secretary of State ColinPowell accused Syria on Monday of not doing enough to end whathe said was its support of "terrorist activity", includingcross-border infiltration by saboteurs into Iraq.
Powell told a news conference during a brief stopover inKuwait on his way home from Iraq that the US Congress woulddebate a Syria Accountability Act on Tuesday due to its deepconcern over Syria's lack of cooperation.
"So far the Syrian leadership has not responded asforcefully and as thoroughly as I would have liked and thusCongress is debating the act tomorrow," Powell said.
The bill cites Syria's support for terrorism, its continuedmilitary presence in Lebanon and development of weapons of massdestruction.
Syria has repeatedly rejected US accusations that itbacked terrorists, saying it was an active opponent of globalterrorism. It has also said of its support for anti-Israeliorganisations like Lebanon's Hizbollah that they had a right toresist Israel.
Powell said he had emphasised to Syrian leaders when hevisited Damascus in May that Washington's demands included "anend to the support of terrorist activity and that they shouldeject those individuals in Damascus who are connected toterrorist organisations".
"I made it clear to the Syrians that to have good relationswith the United States and with a liberated Iraq, they should doeverything they could to make sure that the wrong sorts ofpeople are not crossing the border to cause trouble in Iraq," hesaid.
He also asked Damascus to "help us with financial recordsand any bank accounts that might be held by the former (Iraqi)regime in Syrian banks".
Powell added he had told Syrian President Bashar al-Assad ofthe deep concern in Congress and that the Syria AccountabilityAct "would make it more difficult for us to pursue a course to abetter relationship with Syria".
Powell said he had told Kuwait's Prime Minister Sheikh Sabahal-Ahmad al-Sabah in Washington recently that the United Stateswould move towards designating the oil-rich emirate a non-NATOmajor ally and would begin talks towards a free trade agreement.