"It's important that Syria recognises there is a new reality now Saddam Hussein has gone," Straw told a press conference.

He also repeated remarks he made in Bahrain before flying to Kuwait, saying that "there are questions which the Syrians need to answer" on their activities and calling for undertakings from Damascus not to assist fugitives from Saddam's regime.

Straw noted that junior foreign minister Mike O'Brien was in Damascus on Monday, and that Prime Minister Tony Blair spoke on the telephone last week with President Bashar al-Assad.

The foreign secretary himself had talks with Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara on Friday.

"I look forward to a satisfactory conclusion to these discussions," he said here.

Straw earlier told BBC radio: "I think what is important is that Syria agrees to sit down with the United States and United Kingdom and actively cooperate over these questions that have been raised over their current relations with Iraq."

He urged Damascus "to fully cooperate over these questions that have been raised about the fact some fugitives from Iraq may well have fled into Syria and other matters, including whether they have in fact been developing any illegal chemical or biological programmes."

In London Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon told a press briefing Monday that Britain feared Syria might use fleeing Iraqi experts to pursue its own interest in developing weapons of mass destruction.

"We are concerned about Syria. We are anxious about the effort (to develop weapon of mass destruction) they have made in the past," he said.

"We are anxious that they should not take advantage of any scientific or military figures crossing the border," he said, adding however: "It's important to maintain the dialogue with Syria at this stage."

The United States stepped up criticism of Syria on Sunday, adding to the list of accusations that it had allowed senior Iraqi leaders to escape through its territory.

"The Syrian government needs to cooperate with the United States and our coalition partners. It must not harbor any Baathists, any military officials who need to be held to account for their tenure" in Iraq, US President George W. Bush said.

He also said, "We believe there are chemical weapons in Syria," but did not elaborate, apart from saying that "Each situation will require a different response."

US intelligence has previously reported that Syria possesses stockpiles of the nerve gas sarin and is believed to have an active biological program, charges similar to those which Washington made against Baghdad before the war.

But Straw said in Bahrain that Syria was not next on the list for pre-emptive US military treatment, and "that there is no plan for Syria to be on the list."

In Damascus, the British embassy said O'Brien had met Assad and Shara Monday but made no mention of any discussion on Syria's position.

Instead it quoted O'Brien as saying after their talks that "Saddam Hussein is finished. The Coalition will go home as soon as the Iraqi people have an elected government."

SPACE.WIRE