In a bid to appease Arab and Muslim opinion as the war was raging in Iraq, he dismissed speculation that Iran and Syria were next on Washington's blacklist as "nonsense".

"Nobody in the US administration has been talking of invading Iran or Syria," he told the London-based pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat.

"Syria does pose a problem, because it supports terrorism, and Iran is developping nuclear weapons," Powell admitted.

"But there are ways of handling these problems, and it doesn't mean these two countries are the next targets of an invasion."

Iran was one of the countries, together with Iraq and North Korea, US President George W. Bush described as forming part of an "axis of evil".

Syria, although run by a rival branch of the Baath party, has strong ties with Iraq and US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld renewed allegations on Thursday that Iraq-bound shipments of military equipment were transiting through its territory.

"We consider such trafficking as hostile acts and will hold the Syrian government accountable for such shipments," he had warned a week ago.

The official Syrian newspaper Tishrin on Saturday lambasted Rumsfeld over his repeated accusations and warnings and accused him of "hating the Arabs".

"This is not the first time Rumsfeld has made accusations to cover up what the invaders are perpetrating against Iraqi civilians, in violation of international law," it said.

The United States' British allies had attempted to reassure Syria that coalition forces were not planning any offensive after their troops wrap up the war in Iraq.

"We have absolutely no plans for any military action against Iran or Syria," British Foreign Minister Jack Straw told the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya news channel on April 2.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed the same views in a special interview with the BBC's Arabic service on Friday.

SPACE.WIRE