WASHINGTON, Oct 19: The United States signalled on Wednesday that it was seeking possible UN action against Syria for Damascus’ alleged interference in Lebanon and aid to guerillas in Iraq.

“There are discussions about what is the appropriate mechanism to address Syrian behaviour within the UN context,” said a senior State Department official who asked not to be named.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Washington was taking ‘new diplomatic steps’ to stop assistance to Iraqi guerillas from Syria and Iran.

US officials did not specify what actions the administration of President George W. Bush envisioned against Damascus.

But the Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the United States and France were planning to propose two resolutions at the UN Security Council next week to hold Syria accountable for meddling in Lebanon.

The Post quoted sources as saying that the United States favoured language that could also be used to pressure Damascus over its alleged assistance to the Iraqi guerillas.

The newspaper said France and other nations want the focus to be limited to Syria’s intervention in Lebanon, to prevent an Arab backlash.

Rice said in Senate testimony that the United States had taken military action to close off the Syria-Iraq border and ‘we have also begun taking new diplomatic steps to convey the seriousness of our concerns.

“Syria and Iran allow fighters and military assistance to reach insurgents in Iraq,” she said.

“In the case of Syria, we are concerned about cross-border infiltration, about unconstrained travel networks, and about the suspicious young men who are being waved through Damascus International Airport.”

Rice said, “Syria and Iran must decide whether they wish to side with the cause of war or with the cause of peace.”—AFP