"There are some important questions for Syria to answer, which includes these questions of chemical weapons," Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told reporters at US Central Command's war base in Qatar.

"It's very important that Syria accepts the new reality and operates in a constructive, cooperative way with us and the United States and in particular deals with all these questions about whether they have taken in fugitives from the Saddam regime," he said.

He insisted Syria was not on any list for pre-emptive US military treatment, saying: "There isn't a list and Syria isn't on it."

Asked if Britain shared the United States' view that Syria was a rogue state, Straw replied: "We use different descriptions. Syria has an opportunity to prove it's not in that category."

Straw's message in Qatar was essentially the same as the one he has been repeating on a tour of the Gulf that has so far taken him to Kuwait and Bahrain and echoed Prime Minister Tony Blair's comments to parliament on Monday.

Syria openly opposed the US-British war to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Damascus has since come under mounting US and British pressure over allegations it has weapons of mass destruction, harbours Saddam regime members and supports radical anti-Israeli groups.

SPACE.WIRE