DAMASCUS, Feb 23: Syria said on Sunday it had turned down a request by US Secretary of State Colin Powell that it back a new UN Security Council resolution likely to pave the way to a war on Iraq.

Powell asked Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara by telephone to support the resolution, Syria’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

“Mr Shara confirmed to Mr Powell at the end of the telephone conversation that Syria does not see any justification to issue a second Security Council resolution,” the statement said.

“Such a resolution, regardless of how balanced it is... will be exploited by those calling for war, both inside and outside the United States, as a pretext to strike Iraq.”

Syria is one of the 10 temporary members of the 15-member Security Council. Powell dropped heavy hints on Sunday about Washington’s timetable for war in Iraq, saying the Council should make a judgment about a new resolution soon after a UN weapons inspectors’ report expected on March 7.—Reuters