Syria dismissed U.S. accusations on Friday that military supplies were being shipped from the country to Iraq, saying Washington was trying to divert attention from "war crimes" committed against Iraqi civilians. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Friday that shipments of equipment, such as night-vision goggles, had been crossing into Iraq from Syria and that Damascus would be held accountable for such "hostile acts."

But a statement from the Syrian Foreign Ministry said: "What Donald Rumsfeld said about the transportation of equipment from Syria to Iraq is an attempt to cover up what his forces have been committing against civilians in Iraq."

The statement said U.S.-led forces were "committing ugly war crimes against unarmed civilians in Iraq, where hundreds of children and women were being killed and houses were being demolished."

It added: "After the failed (U.S.) expectations of a swift and clean victory, Rumsfeld was attempting to justify the failure of his forces... by accusing others of smuggling equipment to Iraq."

Iraqi Information Minister Mohammad Saeed al-Sahaf denied in an interview with the Lebanese LBC television channel that Iraq was receiving any military equipment from Syria.

Rumsfeld told a Pentagon briefing the United States had received information that shipments of "military supplies and material and equipment" had been crossing the border from Syria into Iraq.

"These deliveries pose a direct threat to the lives of coalition forces. We consider such trafficking as hostile acts, and will hold the Syrian government accountable for such shipments," Rumsfeld said.

Asked whether the United States was threatening military action against Syria, Rumsfeld did not answer directly, saying only that the shipment of equipment "vastly complicates" the military operation. He also declined to answer whether the shipments were state-sponsored by Syria.

Syria, currently the only Arab member of the U.N. Security Council, has been steadfastly opposed to the war in Iraq.

Although it voted in favor of U.N. resolution 1441 which told Iraq to disarm or face serious consequences, Syria said the vote was intended to prevent war by allowing the resumption of U.N. arms inspections.

PHOTO CAPTION

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad flashes the V-sign from the balcony of al-Rawdha presidential palace in Damascus (AFP/File/Louai Beshara)