DAMASCUS, April 10: Syria called on Thursday for an end to the occupation of Iraq, and maintained silence in the face of US accusations that 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 US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on Wednesday that he had “scraps of intelligence saying that Syria has been cooperative in facilitating the move of the people out of Iraq and into Syria”.

Syrian government officials were not available for comment. Imad Shuaibi, an analyst close to Damascus thinking, played down the significance of the US comments, however.

“Syria is not worried. There is no chance that these allegations will turn into threats,” he said. “I see no threat in this statement, it is even milder than previous ones.”—Reuters