WASHINGTON, April 15 (News Agencies) - Venezuelan military officers, who unsuccessfully tried to topple President Hugo Chavez last week, were in contact with the U.S. embassy in Caracas less than two months ago, U.S. weekly Newsweek magazine reported Monday, April 15.

The report cited Bush administration sources as saying that dissident Venezuelan military officers had informed embassy officials about planning a coup in late February, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The officers were told that "this was not acceptable, that a coup was not the way to go," the weekly reported, quoting an unnamed source.

But according to Newsweek, Chavez was widely seen in Washington as a hostile figure whose erratic leadership threatened U.S. oil supplies as well as efforts to crack down on guerrilla forces tied to drug trafficking and terrorism in neighboring Colombia.

The coup, which was launched late Thursday, succeeded in ousting Chavez for two days. But it fizzled after key military units expressed their support for Chavez, and he resumed office on Sunday.

The United States expressed no sympathy for Chavez after he was ejected from power early Friday and did not explicitly reject the interim government that replaced him.

After Chavez's return to power, Washington called on Chavez to respect democracy and reach out to his political opponents. "The people of Venezuela have sent a clear message to President Chavez that they want both democracy and reform," the White House said in a statement. "The Chavez administration has an opportunity to respond to this message by correcting its course and governing in a fully democratic manner."

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein congratulated Chavez on his return to power, saying he had thwarted a "U.S. conspiracy".

"We learnt with joy that you thwarted in your country a conspiracy plotted by the United States, enemy of the people," Saddam said in a telegram of congratulations carried by newspapers here.

The U.S. administration was "plotting against security, stability, democracy and human rights, and is seeking to waste the riches of peace-loving people," Saddam said.

In August 2000, Chavez made the only visit by a head of state to Iraq since the United Nations slapped a crippling embargo on the country for invading Kuwait in 1990.

Moscow also welcomed Monday the "restoration of constitutional order" in Venezuela, where President Hugo Chavez returned to power on Sunday 48 hours after a military coup.

Russia is confident that "the lawfully elected president of Venezuela Hugo Chavez will restore civic peace in the country, promote the development of democracy ensure the lawful rights of the Venezuelan people," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Russia is one of the world's major oil producers and followed the events in Venezuela, a member of OPEC which is the world's fourth-largest oil producer and is also the third largest foreign supplier to the U.S. market.

Meanwhile, Chavez has moved to improve his relations with the military while urging troops to forge a closer bond with civil society, news agencies reported Monday.

"The importance of uniting the people with the armed forces must be preserved and strengthened," Chavez told paratroopers at a military base in Maracay, 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of Caracas Sunday. "Otherwise, we could still be fighting in the streets."

Emergency workers tallied 41 deaths and 323 injuries in the wake of Thursday's demonstrations that led up to Chavez's temporary removal from power.

The Maracay paratrooper outfit, in which Chavez once served, was the first unit to publicly defy a civilian-military coup that deposed him Friday, a key move that led to the interim government's resignation Saturday and Chavez's return.

Aware that some troops participated in the coup, Chavez sought to reestablish military affinity with the citizenry against the elite that deposed him.

At the same time, he held out an olive branch to the political opposition after his swearing-in early Sunday.

"There will be no witch hunts, no persecution, no disrespect for free expression or thought," Chavez said, calling for calm. "The country needs an opposition that is loyal to the country, that offers the nation real criticism and alternatives."

But Defense Minister Jose Vicente Rangel said the members of the military, who participated in the coup attempt, had been handed over to justice officials.