'We expect co-operation,' Bush tells Syrians

3.00pm - By CHARLES ALDINGER

WASHINGTON - US President George W Bush has repeated allegations that Syria, whose bitter opposition to the war in Iraq has outraged Washington, may be harbouring Iraqi officials or chemical weapons.

Asked if the charges, a regular theme in recent weeks from hard-line members of the US administration, could lead to war, Bush today told reporters: "I think that we believe there are chemical weapons in Syria, for example. And we will -- each situation will require a different response and, of course, we're -- first things first.

"We're here in Iraq now. And the second thing about Syria is that we expect co-operation. And I'm hopeful we'll receive co-operation," he said.

Earlier, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Syrian fighters had been killed or captured by US forces in Iraq, but he declined to say what Washington might do if Saddam Hussein were found to have fled across the Syrian border.

"The last thing I would do would be to discuss that," he said in a television interview, stressing that if the missing Iraqi president turned up in the neighbouring state, it would show that "Syria would have made an even bigger mistake."

"The (Syrian) government is making a lot of bad mistakes, a lot of bad judgments in my view," Rumsfeld said in an interview on CBS's Face the Nation.

Rumsfeld has in recent days repeatedly charged that Damascus has not only voiced support for Saddam's fallen government, but has been helping senior Iraqi leaders enter Syria to stay or move on to other countries.

On Sunday, Rumsfeld also said Syrian nationals had been actively involved in fighting against US forces, including many in Baghdad.

"There are a number of non-Iraqis who are in the country, particularly in Baghdad we find ... A lot from Syria, most from Syria it appears," he said.

Asked if they were involved in fighting, Rumsfeld said, "Absolutely. In firefights, a lot of them got killed last night."

The Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad, which has openly called for the defeat of US and British forces by Iraq, dismissed earlier charges from Rumsfeld that it had allowed night vision equipment and other military aid into Iraq.

Syria has been on the US list of countries supporting terrorism for many years, and some conservative hawks in Washington say that after Iraq, the United States should set its sights on "regime change" in Syria and Iran.

Conservatives inside and out of the US government hope the Iraq war will signal to Damascus and Tehran that seeking weapons of mass destruction may be hazardous to their health.

In Beirut, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said the time was not right for the United States to raise pressure on Syria by accusing it of aiding Saddam's collapsed regime.

Villepin said after meeting Lebanese leaders the international community should focus instead on rebuilding Iraq and reviving Middle East peace efforts.

However, Rumsfeld said Washington would not "deny the truth."

"The fact of the matter is that Syria has been unhelpful and pretending that that's not the case it strikes me is to deny the truth. And I don't think you can live a lie," he said on CBS.

Rumsfeld was asked if Syria was going to pay a price for supporting Saddam.

"I'm sure they already are if you think about it," he said. "I mean who in the world would want to invest in Syria? Who would want to go in tourism in Syria? They're associating with the wrong people and the effect of that hurts the Syrian people."

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq war