WASHINGTON, Oct 8: US President George Bush has dropped his opposition to legislation that would punish Syria unless it renounces extremist groups and ends unconventional arms programmes, his spokesman said on Wednesday.

Earlier, the House International Relations Committee approved the measure on Wednesday, setting the stage for a full House vote.

The bill calls for Syria to end what Washington says is its support for terrorists or terrorist groups; halt development of chemical and biological arms as well as long-range missiles; and to withdraw the roughly 20,000 troops it has in Lebanon.

After quietly opposing the “Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act” for about two years, the White House now officially takes no position on the legislation, which enjoys broad support in the US Congress.

A White House spokesman said the administration wants to see the final language of the measure before deciding where it stands, but ending its long-standing resistance clears the way for passage by the Senate and House of Representatives.

A US State Department official said the administration’s change of heart came after Damascus failed to follow through on pledges to US Secretary of State Colin Powell to shut down the offices of extremist groups.

Damascus says it has forced 10 radical Palestinian organizations to close, including the offices of Islamic Jihad and Hamas in the capital, after Mr Powell’s May 3 visit. The legislation would ban sales of items with both military and civilian uses to Syria and would empower the US president to enact further sanctions by choosing two of a list of six possible steps.

They include banning US exports to Syria; prohibiting US businesses from operating in that country; reducing the US diplomatic presence there; restricting travel by Syrian diplomats in the United States; blocking Syrian airline flights to the United States; and freezing Syrian assets. —AFP