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US snarls sanctions on Syria

STAR DESK
The United States ratcheted up pressure on Syria on Monday by threatening sanctions over charges that it is harboring Iraqi leaders, developing chemical weapons and supporting terrorism, drawing sharp reaction from Damascus.
Syria yesterday denounced the accusations as "threats and falsifica-tions" designed to further Israeli interests.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan expressed concern that the growing US criticism of Syria and its role in the US-led war on Iraq could further destabilise the shaky Middle East.
"Syria is indeed a rogue nation," said White House spokesman Ari
Fleischer, calling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad an "untested leader" and now has his chance "to be a leader who makes the right decisions."
With Saddam Hussein toppled, Washington has directed its ire toward Syria, charging that some Iraqi government leaders and members of Saddam's family may have escaped across the border into Syria, with assent
from Damascus.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the United States has "intelligence that indicates that some Iraqi people have been allowed into Syria," either to stay or in transit. He gave no names and did not say where they went after leaving Syria.
And Rumsfeld said Syria was also allowing people to cross into Iraq.
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"We have intelligence that shows that Syria has allowed Syrians and others to come across the border into Iraq, people armed and people carrying leaflets indicating that they'll be rewarded if they kill Americans and members of the coalition," Rumsfeld said.
U.S. officials stopped short of threatening to extend the Iraq war into Syria but insisted all options remain on the table. Analysts doubted Washington would launch military action, and expect it to use diplomatic pressure to try to persuade Assad to change course.
The Syrian cabinet said in a statement that the "escalated language of threats and accusations by some American officials against Syria are aimed at damaging its steadfastness and influencing its national decisions and (Arab) national stances."
"The cabinet rejected these accusations and allegations and saw them as a response to Israeli stimulus and a service to its (Israel's) goals and expansive greed ...," it said, and demanded an end of the "American-British occupation of Iraq."
In Madrid, Syria's ambassador to Spain said earlier that US accusations that Syria was harbouring terrorists were an insult.
"It's an insult to my country, an
insult to a country that is a member of the UN Security Council and an insult to a peaceful country that is struggling and working for a lasting peace in the Middle East, " the ambassador, Mohsen Bilal, told Spain's Cadena Ser radio.
Asked about a White House spokesman's description of Syria as a terrorist state harbouring terrorists, he replied "We reject this accusation categorically because it is baseless."
Bilal also denied Syria had granted protection to senior Iraqi leaders who may have fled across the border.
Syrian official daily Ath-Thawra also decried the US accusations, saying they were a smokescreen to pave the way for the Americans to keep Iraq occupied at will.
"America wants to occupy Iraq without encountering any opposition," the paper said, painting a picture of the US insuring its domination of the country "by means of a murderous civil war or tribal conflicts".
"The unfounded accusations and the provocative threats against Arab countries are in the same vein," the paper added.
Meanwhile, a UN spokesman said: "The secretary-general is concerned that recent statements directed at Syria should not contribute to a wider destabilisation in a
region already affected heavily by the war in Iraq."
Annan "reiterated his strongly held view that any claim of threats to international peace and security should be addressed in conformity with the provisions of the (UN) charter," the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon described Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as "dangerous" in a newspaper interview yesterday because he could misjudge the balance of power between their countries.
"Bashar Assad is dangerous because he is capable of making the same error over the balance of forces with Israel as he made with the Americans, and he has a force which obeys his orders: Hezbollah, Lebanon's Shiite Muslim militia, Sharon told Yediot Aharonot.
"He is dangerous because his judgement is defective. During the war in Iraq, he proved he does not have the ability to reach the right conclusions from relatively obvious facts," he said.
The threatened US action on Syria includes a ban on sales of dualuse items to Syria; a ban on U.S. exports to Syria; prohibiting U.S. businesses from operating in Syria; restricting Syrian diplomats; blocking Syrian airline flights, reducing diplomatic contacts with Syria; or