Syria called yesterday for an end to the "occupation" of neighbouring Iraq, and maintained silence in the face of US accusations it is helping supporters of President Saddam Hussein to flee.
Syria "urges the international community to exert every possible effort to put an end to the occupation and manage the catastrophic situation that has resulted from the aggression," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
This was necessary, it said, "so that the people of Iraq can choose their government freely away from foreign intervention".
"In view of the dangerous circumstances facing the Arab nation, the Syrian Arab Republic reiterates its full commitment to the unity of Iraq - land and people," the statement said.
There was no direct response to remarks by the US Secretary of Defence, Mr Donald Rumsfeld, that he had "scraps of intelligence saying that Syria has been co-operative in facilitating the move of the people out of Iraq and into Syria".
The US Deputy Defence Secretary, Mr Paul Wolfowitz, said yesterday Syria had been "behaving badly" on the sidelines of the war on Iraq, but while US officials were monitoring the situation closely, military intervention was not anticipated.
"The Syrians are behaving badly, they need to be reminded of that and if they continue we need to think about what our policy is," Mr Wolfowitz told the US Senate Armed Services Committee.
"It's very dubious behaviour, and by calling attention to it we hope that in fact it will be enough to have them stop," he said, adding that Syria harbours terrorists and war criminals and has shipped "things" to Iraq.
In another development, the British Foreign Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, has begun two days of intensive diplomacy to press allies to support a UN route for post-war Iraq.
Mr Straw yesterday set out a UK plan for a post-war conference under the auspices of the UN, which would bring together representatives of all of Iraq's communities to thrash out a future for the country. It is based on the Bonn conference on Afghanistan in 2001. - (AFP)