DAMASCUS, April 12: Syria's information minister on Monday urged the Middle East to stand up to a US plan seeking to spread democracy and economic liberalisation in the region, at the opening of a conference on reform.

Ahmad al-Hassan said governments must "stand up" to the so-called Greater Middle East Initiative, and other deals that "ignore" the Arab-Israeli conflict and the US-led occupation of Iraq, the official SANA news agency reported.

"Syria is aware of the (current) difficulties," Hassan said, calling on Arab governments to find ways to "effectively defend their just causes". Discussions at the symposium, organised by the Arab Centre for Strategic Studies based in Damascus, focused on the "dangers" of the US project.

The United States plans to introduce its initiative in June at the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized countries' meeting in the US state of Georgia. -AFP