The cabinet said in a statement that the "escalated language of threats and accusations by some American officials against Syria are aimed at damaging its steadfastness and influencing its national decisions and (Arab) national stances."

"The cabinet rejected these accusations and falsified allegations and saw them as a response to Israeli stimulus and a service to its (Israel's) goals and expansive greed..." it said, demanding an end to the "American-British occupation of Iraq."

The cabinet issued the statement after Washington said Syria was a rogue nation and that it would examine diplomatic and economic measures against Damascus.

Diplomats and analysts say the mounting US warnings to Syria are aimed chiefly at pressuring Damascus to stop aiding anti-Israeli militant groups such as Hamas and Hizbollah.

State-run Syrian radio called on Tuesday for Arab solidarity to foil what it called a Zionist plan "to assume full control of our region and rearrange it in a manner that would terminate any presence of an Arab nationalist setting."

The radio, a government mouthpiece, said Israel and the "Zionist lobby" have penetrated the US administration and wanted to extend the war against Iraq to other countries.

"This requires all to move and adopt a unified and clear stance to make the enemies of this (Arab) nation understand that Arabs will stand as a unified rank in the face of dangers," it said.

'Second Phase of War'

In Madrid, Syria's ambassador to Spain earlier described as an insult US accusations that Syria was harboring terrorists.

"It's an insult to my country, an insult to a country that is a member of the UN Security Council and an insult to a peaceful country that is struggling and working for a lasting peace in the Middle East," the ambassador, Mohsen Bilal, told Spain's Cadena Ser radio.

Bilal also denied Syria had granted protection to senior Iraqi leaders who may have fled across the border.

He said the US-led war against Iraq had been motivated by oil interests and protecting Israel. "They now have the oil, and the destruction of Iraq...Today begins the second phase of the war, which is to make Israel the most potent force in the Middle East," he said.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld accused Damascus on Monday of testing chemical weapons within the last 12-15 months and of harboring Saddam's top associates. Secretary of State Colin Powell warned of possible diplomatic or economic measures.

President Bush tried to enlist Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar on Monday in his campaign to put pressure on Syria, asking him to warn Damascus not to give shelter to senior Saddam aides.

But Aznar, one of Bush's most loyal allies on Iraq, said in Warsaw on Tuesday "Syria has been and will be a friend of Spain." He said he would talk with Syrian leaders later on Tuesday or Wednesday, but would make no demands on them.

(China Daily April 16, 2003)