Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said in remarks published Wednesday he would oppose the use of Iraqi territory as a launchpad for any US military strike on Syria.

"I absolutely reject that Iraqi territory be used as a launchpad for any military strike against Syria or any other Arab country," Talabani told Arabic daily Asharq Al-Awsat.

"But this is my personal opinion and my capabilities are limited in confronting America's might... I cannot impose my opinion on them," he added in an interview.

US President George W. Bush said last month that military action would be a last resort to deal with Syria, which Washington accuses of allowing foreign fighters to cross the border into Iraq, where US troops are fighting a bloody insurgency.

Talabani, who also heads the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), had a long-standing alliance with Syria which allowed him to operate from its territory against former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.

"I will not say a word against Syria which I owe a lot to. If I have anything to say I will relay it directly to brother (Syrian President) Bashar al-Assad," Talabani said.

Fears of US military action heightened following a UN investigation which implicated Syrian officials in the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri and 22 others in February.

The report said the killing was organized by Syrian security officials and their Lebanese allies.

The Security Council voted unanimously on Monday for a resolution ordering Syria to co-operate fully with the UN investigation or face possible "further action."

The resolution warns the council "could consider further action" if Syria does not meet demands in the resolution. Syria denies the charges and says it was conducting its own probe.

Moscow defends vote

Russia Wednesday defended its stance on Syria at the United Nations, saying its action at the Security Council had spared Damascus the threat of sanctions and being linked, without proof, with terrorist activities.

Although the UN Security Council voted unanimously for the resolution urging full Syrian co-operation with the UN investigation, this was only achieved after the United States, Britain and France, main sponsors of the proposal, agreed to drop an explicit threat of economic sanctions against Syria.

Otherwise Russia, China and Algeria may have abstained, diplomats said.

A statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry said: "Thanks to the efforts of the Russian side and other delegations, politicized stances that had nothing to do with the investigation of Hariri's death were withdrawn."

"The threat of automatic sanctions against Syria as a state was removed. Attempts to accuse Damascus, without proof, of involvement in terrorist activities were rejected," it said.

Russia, a close ally of Syria since Cold War times, said the Security Council resolution, as passed, opened the way for "broad and effective dialogue of the Syrian side with international investigators."

"We are convinced in Moscow that responsible co-operation of Damascus with the (international investigating) committee will help answer the outstanding questions in the Hariri affair, establish the truth and ensure that justice prevails," it said.

Russia, already at odds with the United States over nuclear ties with Iran, has said that US terror accusations against Syria are hurting the Middle East peace process, and it agreed to write off a huge chunk of Soviet-era debt held by Damascus earlier this year.

Syrians protest

Over 1,000 people turned out to protest in front of the US Embassy in Damascus Wednesday.

Anti-riot police were installed outside the embassy where they prevented a dozen young people from going in.

Syrian Expatriates Minister Bussaina Shaaban maintained in an interview with CNN that "Syria wants to co-operate because Syria wants to know the truth and wants to know who killed Hariri.

"We are the people who are suffering as a consequence of this terrorist act and we are certainly most interested in finding out who the perpetrators are and we will certainly cooperate until these perpetrators are found."

She said that Syria had given full access to the UN team led by German magistrate Detlev Mehlis and would continue to do so.

Source: China Daily