"The statements made by (US Defense Secretary Donald H.) Rumsfield are groundless," said a spokesman of the Syrian Foreign Ministry, quoted by the official Sana news agency.

"This is part of the allegations that Rumsfield is issuing on a daily basis and that were proven to be false," he added, noting that the allegations were a kind of "provocation."

Earlier on Friday, Rumsfield said at a Pentagon briefing that Syria was sending military equipment to Iraqi forces, warning his country would hold Syria accountable for the "hostile acts."

"Donald Rumsfeld is trying to justify the failure experienced by his troops in Iraq as the result of weather conditions and others by accusing other parties of having passed military equipment to Iraq," the spokesman said.

The United States launched an anticipated war against Iraq on March 20, but its military advances in Iraq have been blocked by fierce resistance from the Iraqi army.

The Syrian official also accused the United States of targeting hundreds of Iraqi children and women and destroying civilian facilities and residential areas, including marketplaces, hospitals and buses in Iraq.

Earlier on Friday, Iraqi Information Minister Mohammad Said al-Sahaf also dismissed as "baseless" US claims that Syria was supplying Iraq with military equipment.

Interviewed by Lebanese LBC cable channel on Friday, Sahaf said the accusations levelled by Rumsfield against Syria were "cheer lies that are being issued daily."

(Xinhua News Agency March 29, 2003)