AL QUDS, March 31: Iraqi chemical and biological weapons may be hidden in Syria, a senior Israeli intelligence officer told a parliamentary committee here on Monday, Israeli public radio said. “It is possible Iraq transferred missiles and weapons of mass destruction into Syria,” General Yossi Kupperwasser told the committee.

He said the transfer could be one explanation as to why US-led forces scouring suspect sites in western Iraq had found nothing so far, the radio said.

Gen Kupperwasser also estimated the chances of Israel being attacked by Iraq, as happened in the 1991 Gulf War, as slim but warned that the regime of President Saddam Hussein could still try to strike once it sensed it was about to lose its fight against US-led forces.

His remarks came a day after US Secretary of State Colin Powell warned both Syria and Iran to stop what he called their backing for terrorists, saying Syria in particular faced a “critical choice.”

“Syria can continue direct support for terrorist groups and the dying regime of Saddam Hussein, or it can embark on a different and more hopeful course,” he said.

On Friday US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warned the two states to steer clear of the Iraq war.—AFP