BEIRUT, Dec 22: US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage warned Syria on Wednesday that Washington was prepared to impose new sanctions if it failed to clamp down on fugitive Iraqi officials and end its involvement in Lebanon.

"I hope that our relations with Syria do not worsen further but it's entirely in the hands of Damascus," the State Department number two told the Beirut daily An-Nahar. "Syria's failure to accept UN Security Council Resolution 1559 is a defiance of the international community," he said, referring to a September 2 text which demanded an end to foreign interference in Lebanon, in an implicit allusion to Syria's dominant role in its smaller neighbour.

Armitage said Washington would press the Security Council to consider the issue in January when it discusses renewing the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which has been deployed in south Lebanon ever since a 1978 Israeli invasion. But Lebanese Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud took strong exception to his comments, insisting there was no connection between Resolution 1559 and Resolution 425 which set up UNIFIL.

"Any attempt to mix the two ... will not help security on the border and, moreover, will get in the way of the duties of this force," he said. On Iraq, Armitage conceded that Syria had taken some steps towards meeting US demands by agreeing to undertake joint border patrols and act against insurgent funding, but added: "We are asking them to do much more." -AFP