In recent days US officials have blasted the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, branding Syrian a "rogue" and "terrorist" state.

President George W. Bush has said US officials believe there are chemical weapons in Syria.

And Bush administration officials are convinced that Syria is harboring of some of Saddam Hussein's former officials, thus jeopardizing Iraqi reconstruction.

Syria was overlooked when President George W. Bush dubbed Iraq, Iran and North Korea his January 2002 "axis of evil" speech, according to professor Marius Deeb, of Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies in Washington.

"Syria was missed from the 'axis of evil' but it's a leading terrorist state like Iran," Deeb told AFP.

That omission is now being reconsidered because Syria "could destabilize the whole region" now that Washington is installing a new government in Iraq, he opined.

Powell on Tuesday told reporters in Washington that the United states has "concerns about Syria," and that US officials "have let Syria know of our concerns."

However, a war on Syria is not imminent, he said.

"There is no war plan right now to go attack someone else, either for the purpose of overthrowing their leadership or for the purpose of imposing democratic values," Powell said.

Syria's backing of anti-US Shiite Muslims in southern Iraq is another worry for Washington. These communities have brethren in Syria and Iran.

Damascus also harbors Palestinian resistance groups, including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Islamic Jihad and Hamas -- all groups that Washington considers terrorist organizations.

"One can be cynical and say there is a long-standing Syrian tradition in harboring former Nazis (and) terrorist leaders," said Scott Lasensky, director of the Mideast section of the Council on Foreign Relations.

US officials planning the release of a so-called "road map" toward the establishment of a Palestinian state by 2005 are concerned by an upsurge of violence between Israelis and Palestinians as well as heightened tensions along the Israel-Lebanon border.

"Hezbollah is more than ever a Syrian instrument of control in Lebanon against Israel," said Deeb, noting however that Washington has few means of pressuring the Damascus regime.

Powell himself said that Washington "will examine possible measures of a diplomatic, economic or other nature as we move forward."

Marc Ginsberg, US ambassador to Morocco under former president Bill Clinton, said that Washington could exploit Syria's interest in World Bank and International Monetary Fund monies.

"We should, shall we say, make it abundantly clear we're not going to approve any additional loans for Syria," he said.

The current US-Syrian dispute is likely to end like earlier disputes, said to Jon Alterman, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

"We don't have much of a relationship with Syria, so when the Syrians irritate us, there's not much we can do," he said.

"So we tend to threaten them and they tend to back down," he added.

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