WASHINGTON, March 31: Secretary of State Colin Powell warned Syria and Iran to stop backing terrorists, two days after another top US official warned them to stay out of the US-led war on Iraq.

“It is now time for the entire international community to step up and insist that Iran end its support for terrorists, including groups violently opposed to Israel and to the Middle East peace process,” Mr Powell said here on late Sunday.

“Tehran must stop pursuing weapons of mass destruction and the means to deliver them,” Mr Powell told the annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a powerful Jewish lobby group.

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom also attended the conference.

Powell then singled out Syria, saying: “Syria now faces 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.—AFP