"Syria is and will remain a friend of Spain and will not be the target of any military action," Aznar told a news conference during a visit to Warsaw.

"I am convinced that the conflict (in Iraq) will not spread to other countries in the Middle East," he added at a joint news conference with Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller.

He announced that he hoped to talk to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as soon as possible.

"I have already discussed (the situation) with the Syrian president with whom my contacts are very warm, and I am going to talk to him about this the soonest possible," Aznar said.

As the US-led war on Iraq draws to a close, the administration of US President George W. Bush has turned its attention to Syria, accusing it of state terrorism, developing weapons of mass destruction and giving refuge to officials fleeing neighbouring Iraq.

Top Bush aides have stopped short of threatening military action, but said all options remained on the table and warned Damascus to take stock of the US-led rout of Saddam Hussein.

Spain was one of the strongest backers of Bush's hardline stance on Iraq.

Spanish government officials said Bush had urged Aznar on Monday to pressure Syria not to admit fugitive members of the Iraqi regime.

Syria has strongly denied US allegations it was aiding the remnants of Saddam's government or developing its own weapons of mass destruction.

Aznar acknowledged that "in certain quarters" there was a will for open war with Syria.

"They are possibly forces who can not live without conflict. Simply, some feel the need for such a conflict. But that is not our case," he said.

Aznar's one-day visit to Warsaw comes on the eve of a European Union summit in Athens, at which the accession treaties of 10 EU members-to-be including the largest -- Poland, will be ratified.

After meeting his Polish counterpart Leszek Miller, Aznar was to see Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski.

He was also to lay flowers at the monument Memorial of the Heroes of the ghetto, ahead of the 60th anniversary of the uprising against the Nazis in the Warsaw ghetto on Saturday.

SPACE.WIRE