U.S. Relations With Syria Icy

Relationship On Downward Slide, Reduced To 'Diplomatic Contact'

(AP)  U.S. relations with Syria are on a downward slide, reduced to "diplomatic contact" in which the Bush administration demands tightened borders to keep guerrillas from spilling into Iraq.

Diplomatic relations have not been officially severed, but the U.S. ambassador, Margaret Scobey, has not been at her post in Damascus since she was recalled for consultations after the assassination of Rafiq Hariri, a former Lebanese prime minister, in Beirut in mid-February.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has steadily stepped up her rhetorical attack, from saying Syria was not doing enough to guard the border with Iraq to accusing it of permitting insurgents to stage their operations from Syria.

Syria's ambassador to Washington, Imad Moustapha, told The Assoicated Press Tuesday that Syria had halted military and intelligence cooperation with the United States.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the two nations continue to have diplomatic relations. But he said he would not describe the relationship as an active one.

"We have diplomatic contact in Damascus, and have some diplomatic contacts in other places," he said. "You know, here and there, we see them, but I think the important thing is Syrian behavior."

On that front, Boucher said it was not clear whether Syria had withdrawn all its intelligence units from Lebanon while pulling out its troops. All were ordered out by the U.N. Security Council.