The United States toned down its rhetoric toward Syria by saying it had no "war plan" to attack despite its belief Damascus is developing weapons of mass destruction and harbouring Iraqi officials.
The comment by US Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell seemeddesigned to quell fears in the region that the United Statesmight consider moving against Syria or Iran following the rapid US military defeat of Iraq.
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"There is no list, there is no war plan right now to goattack someone else either for the purpose of overthrowingtheir leadership or for the purpose of imposing democraticvalues," Mr Powell said.
Mr Powell drew a distinction between US concerns aboutSyria and Iran and those about Saddam's Iraq.
"Iraq was a unique case, where it wasn't just a matter of adictator being there," Mr Powell said.
"It was a dictator terrorising his people, raping and pillaging his own people, wasting his treasure . . . invading his neighbours and threatening the whole world withweapons of mass destruction," he said.
But a US official said late yesterday that Mr Farouk Hijazi, Iraq's ambassador to Tunisa and formerambassador to Turkey, was believed to be in Syria.
Mr Hijazi was director of external operations for the Iraqiintelligence agency Mukhabarat in the mid-1990s, when theagency allegedly tried to assassinate President George Bush Snr during a visit to Kuwait, the official said.
In Damascus, the Syrian cabinet issued a statementdenouncing US accusations that it was developing chemicalweapons as threats and falsifications, and it demanded an end to "American-British occupation of Iraq".
