"Any Iraqi official who had a role in the 1990 invasion of Kuwait and in the Iraq-Iran war of 1980 -- and these are the pillars of the regime (of Saddam Hussein) -- will not attempt to enter Syria," Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara told Dubai-based Al-Arabiya news channel.

"They cannot come to Syria when they know Syria's record of denouncing these two wars, and we on our part cannot swallow these individuals," said Shara in response to US claims that members of the deposed Saddam regime were fleeing the US-led coalition into neighboring Syria.

"These accusations are groundless," he added.

Syria was the only major Arab country to side with Iran in its eight-year war with Iraq and also backed the US-led coalition which expelled Iraqi troops from Kuwait in February 1991.

Equally unbelievable was the US charge that the deposed Iraqi regime had transferred alleged weapons of mass destruction to Syria, Shara said.

"No one actually believes these allegations (as evidenced by) statements issued from Paris, Moscow and Berlin ... We're not talking of a shipment of vegetables or fruits which can be transferred that easily," he said.

"Moreover, how can anyone in his right mind (believe) that at the very moment when the United States starts a war against Iraq, Iraq would smuggle out the weapons it is supposed to use if they exist? ... These people (who make the charges) have lost credibility," Shara said.

"Why would Iraq send to Syria weapons of mass destruction or other weapons in wartime when it would be most in need of them if they indeed exist?" he asked.

As to Washington's claim that Syria possesses arms of mass destruction, notably chemical weapons, Shara said: "The most eloquent answer to this is that Syria is prepared to turn the Middle East into a zone free of all weapons of mass destruction -- nuclear, chemical and biological -- under UN supervision and to sign any treaty accordingly.

"If such accusations have any credibility, let their credibility be proven through acceptance of the Syrian offer."

Syria on Wednesday introduced a draft resolution in the UN Security Council that would make the Middle East a zone free of mass destruction weapons.

UN Ambassador Mikhail Wehbe told reporters Israel was the only state in the region not to have signed the body of treaties and conventions covering such weapons in the Middle East.

Sharaa said Washington's "threats" to Syria were aimed at diverting attention from the difficulties it was encountering following its takeover of Iraq.

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