WASHINGTON, May 4 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Back from a Middle East trip, Secretary of State Colin Powell warned Syria on Sunday, May 4, that it should stay clear of the Iraq situation and the Israeli Palestinian peace process or face “consequences” as he spell out the U.S. policy towards other countries.

"There are consequences lurking in the background," Powell said in an interview with CBS television the day after his return from a tour of Europe and the Middle East, including Syria.

Powell reiterated his call to Damascus to react “constructively” to the new situation in the region following the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in neighbouring Iraq, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

He had particularly pressed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on the closure of his country's border with Iraq, and the closing down of the Damascus offices of Palestinian resistance organisations, he said.

Assurances from Syrian officials would not do, Powell added.

"What counts now is performance...we're looking for a new attitude on the part of Syria. We're looking for changed behaviour," he told ABC television in another interview.

Washington already had legislation in place which would allow it to slap sanctions on Syria if U.S. officials “felt” Damascus were being uncooperative, and some U.S. lawmakers were pushing for further scope to react to what might be seen as Syrian intransigence, Powell noted.

While insisting that he had made no promises to the Syrians during his trip, Powell let it be known that there were advantages to be had for Damascus if it took a moderate line in regional politics.

"There are new options on the table that might benefit them...as we move forward down the road map" for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, he said.

Powell’s comments kept the pressure on Syria after several weeks of U.S. bellicose rhetoric since the end of the war against Iraq.

U.S. officials have repeatedly accused Damascus of aiding Saddam, sponsoring terrorism and pursuing weapons of mass destruction. Syria rejected all of Washington’s accusations as a cover for the state of anarchy and lawlessness rocking Iraq during the U.S. military presence.

While wrapping up his trip to the Middle East, Powell reported that Damascus had started cracking down on Palestinian groups in Damascus. But several of those same Palestinian groups denied this and vowed more resistance.

Discrepancies

Asked about the apparent discrepancies during appearances on several Sunday talk shows, Powell said the United States would keep a close eye on Syria and its president, measuring performance not promises.

"It is not what he (Assad) says or what he said to me or what he professes. It is what he actually does, it's performance we'll be looking at in the coming days and weeks and months," he said

In addition to clamping down on the Palestinian groups' activities and finances, Powell said the United States is seeking other signs that Damascus recognizes what America sees as a changing Middle East dynamic -- including development of a pro-U.S. government in post-war Iraq.

Isolate Iran

Setting out the U.S. policy to isolate Iran, Powell said that Washington will at the same time stay in touch with Tehran on events in southern Iraq and on al-Qaeda's terror network.

"We believe there are ways to communicate with the people of Iran to convince them that the policies their leaders have been following have been inappropriate," Powell told NBC television.

"Meanwhile, we will continue to isolate Iran as best we can."

He said a military invasion of Iran was not the order of the day.

"We have ways of communicating with Iran on what we think they ought to be doing with respect to going forward to a better relationship with us and the rest of the world.

"And also we have been in touch with Iran with respect to activities that they may be contemplating in the southern part of Iraq among the Shiite community," Powell said.

He said that Iran had before it several opportunities to improve relations with the United States.

"We have made it clear to Iran that they cannot expect a better relationship with the United States or be included more fully in the international community as long as they continue to support terrorism and as long as they continue to move in a direction with their nuclear development programs that suggest they are still interested in developing a nuclear bomb," he said.

War Against Cuba ‘Inappropriate’

On staunch opponent Cuba, Powell said it is not necessary for the United States to take military action against Cuba as it did against Iraq, because the island's regime will eventually fall of its own accord.

"We don't believe that it is appropriate at this time...to use military force for this particular purpose," Powell said on NBC television, after he was asked whether the U.S. military should "liberate" Cuba as it had done Iraq.

"We believe that Cuba is isolated. It is an anachronism, and history will catch up with it," he added.

Washington continues to list Cuba, along with Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya, North Korea and Saddam-era Iraq as nations which sponsor international terrorism.

North Koreans "Masters Of Ambiguity”

As for North Koreans, Powell said they are "masters of ambiguity" in their statements about their nuclear program.

"They are always ambiguous in their statements, masters of ambiguity," Powell said in the NBC interview.

Powell was referring to North Korean statements last month that it already has "a couple" of nuclear weapons, but failed to provide any evidence.

"They say they have completely reprocessed all of the (uranium) cells, the rods that would give rise to sufficient amount of plutonium to develop five or six weapons," Powell said.

"We can't confirm that with our intelligence, but that's what they say."

"What they have gotten in response to these statements is nothing from us except condemnation ...Their nuclear weapons are not going to purchase them any political standing that will cause us to be frightened or to think that somehow we now have to march to their tune,” Powell said.

North Korea had expressed fears of a rerun of the Iraq crisis. The U.S. forces launched war against Iraq allegedly to search for weapons of mass destruction. But weeks after the end of war they said they still did not find any of such banned weapons.

Palestinians “Should End Violence”

Powell called on Palestinians in his interview to end violence against Israelis, to clear the way for the latest U.S.-led peace initiative.

"Right now the most important thing for the Palestinians to do is what Prime Minister (Mahmud Abbas) Abu Mazen has said at the time of his inauguration. They have to get the violence under control," he said.

"We can't move forward with the roadmap ... in the presence of continuing violence and terrorism," he said.

The so-called "roadmap" proposed by the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations calls for a series of steps toward peace that would culminate in a Palestinian state in 2005.

Powell comments came as a Palestinian teenager was shot dead and six other youths injured when Israeli occupation forces fired on stone-throwing Palestinians in the northern West Bank city of Nablus late on Sunday.

The death brings to 3,209 the number of people killed since the Palestinian Intifada against Israeli occupation erupted in September 2000, including 2,420 Palestinians and 729 Israelis.

Powell also said that Israeli settlement activity in Palestinian territories "has to come to an end."