MIDDLE EAST: US Secretary of State Dr Condoleezza Rice has urged Gulf states to take a greater role in securing Middle East peace, and accused Syria of supporting terrorists bent on destabilising the region.
Dr Rice told reporters in Rome yesterday that Damascus had been "unhelpful in a number of ways", complaining that Syria was backing an insurgency in Iraq and refusing to withdraw its troops from Lebanon.
"I cannot say it strongly enough. You cannot say on the one hand that you want a process of peace and on the other hand support people who are determined to blow it up," she said.
Syria earlier this month rejected accusations by US President Bush that it supported terrorism.
